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The Florida Department of Health works to protect, promote, and improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state, county, and community efforts.

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Preparedness Planning

Bureau of Preparedness & Response

Every day, the Department of Health works to enhance the safety of the State of Florida by developing the necessary capabilities to prevent, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all threats and hazards. A key component of this effort is preparedness planning, which involves creating and maintaining plans to support public health and medical emergencies.

As the lead agency for Florida’s State Emergency Support Function 8 (ESF-8) – Public Health and Medical Services, the Florida Department of Health is actively involved in preparedness planning. To ensure readiness for disaster responses, State ESF-8 coordinates the development and maintenance of plans, procedures, and resources as part of the State Emergency Response Team (SERT), ensuring Florida can meet a core set of operational missions.

Core Mission Implementation Plans

The State ESF-8 Public Health and Medical Appendix to the State Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (CEMP) established 11 core missions for the public health and medical system during a response. Specific plans and procedures addressing the implementation of the core missions during a response are in the following categories.

  • Core Mission 1:
  • Core Mission 2:
  • Core Mission 3:
  • Core Mission 4:
  • Core Mission 5:
  • Core Mission 6:
  • Core Mission 7:
  • Core Mission 8:
  • Core Mission 9:
  • Core Mission 10:
  • Core Mission 11:
Support local assessment and identification of public health and medical needs in impacted counties.
Coordinate and support the stabilization of the public health and medical system in impacted counties.
Support sheltering of persons with medical and functional needs.

Monitor and coordinate resources to support the care and movement of persons with medical and functional needs in impacted counties.

Support monitoring, investigating and controlling potential or known threats and impacts to human health through surveillance, delivery of medical countermeasures and non-medical interventions.

Support monitoring, investigating and controlling potential or known threats to human health of environmental origin.
Develop, disseminate and coordinate accurate and timely public health and medical information.

Monitor need for and coordinate resources to support fatality management services.

Monitor need for and coordinate resources to support disaster behavioral health services.

Support responder safety and health needs.

Provide public health and medical technical assistance and support.

Preparedness planning is an iterative process that adapts to the specific incident and various factors, including available infrastructure, fostered partnerships, operational priorities, system enhancements, staffing changes, and new resource avenues.

State Public Health and Medical Plans - Provides links to key public health and medical emergency preparedness plans and supporting documentation including Florida Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (CEMP) components and the Public Health Emergency Management Plan components.

Planning Tools and Resources - Provides a variety of resources to assist public health and health care planners and responders including state public health and medical planning system.

Disclaimer: The links and content provided on this page are for informational purposes and your convenience. The Florida Department of Health (DOH) does not endorse, approve, or guarantee the products, services, or opinions offered on external websites. Furthermore, the DOH is not responsible for the accuracy, content, or availability of these external sites. For questions or concerns, please contact the external site directly.