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The Hawaii State Department of Health (DOH) has a mission to protect and improve the health and environment for all people in Hawaii. The Office of Public Health Preparedness (OPHP) coordinates the DOH’s emergency preparedness activities to protect the public’s health and safety in the event of an emergency or disaster, including a major role in the COVID-19 response, and working with the community to help the public prepare.

• • OPHP helps prevent, plan, mitigate, respond, and recover from:
    • Natural or human-caused disasters
    • Emerging infectious disease threats, epidemics, and pandemics
    • Terrorism, accidents, and spills that impact human health (e.g., bioterrorism, chemical or radiological emergencies, nuclear attack)
    • Other public health emergencies or disasters
  • Coordinates Hawaii’s smallpox vaccination program.
  • Administers the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) for distribution of emergency pharmaceuticals in case of public health emergencies.
  • Supports the Department Operations Center (DOC), a coordination center dedicated to internal agency incident management and response.
  • Collaborates with organizations to develop and implement state and local response plans:
    • Hawaii Emergency Management Agency (HI-EMA)
    • Hawaii Healthcare Emergency Management (HHEM)
    • City/county department of emergency management (DEM) and civil defense agencies
    • Other related stakeholders
  • Funded by cooperative agreement: Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP)-Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) and U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC)

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Last reviewed January 2023