Pillars of Governmental Environmental Public Health | A Guide to Scalable Environmental Public Health Programs
generally housed in EPH, jurisdictions shared that approx- imately 30% of 1 emergency coordinator FTE was dedi- cated to their jurisdictions per roughly 50,000 people.
Participants mentioned other useful credentials, but these credentials were not recommended to be required of EPH professionals. These included the certified hazardous materials manager certification and emergency manage - ment certification.
Education/Training/Certifications
Equipment Needs
Participants indicated that a bachelor’s degree was the preferred educational requirement for emergency pre- paredness programs. Additionally, some participants mentioned that having a master of public health (MPH) would also adequately prepare someone to lead envi- ronmental public health planning and actions during an emergency response. While the REHS/RS credential was recognized as valuable for this program area, it was not considered as essential as program-specific emergency management training. Appropriate and up-to-date training was noted as import- ant and recommended for EPH emergency responders. These trainings include the Federal Emergency Manage- ment Agency’s Incident Command Systems (ICS) courses that are available online for free: • ICS 100: Introduction to the Incident Command System • ICS 200: Basic Incident Command System for Initial Response • ICS 700: National Incident Management System (NIMS), an Introduction • ICS 800: National Response Framework (NRF), an Introduction Participants also noted that first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and AED training could be important training for some professionals, depending on their roles. Also recommended was the Center for Domestic Pre- paredness’s Environmental Health Training in Emergency Response (EHTER), a 5-day in-person training at FEMA facilities in Anniston, Alabama, which has been well-re- ceived and highly recommended by participants.
Access to or a relationship with a laboratory to conduct food, water, and air quality testing was noted as being important for biological and environmental monitoring to detect and monitor emergency situations. Communication among responders is also important during emergencies; therefore, recommended equipment includes cell phones, radios, internet, computers, and government emergency telephone systems (GETS) and Wireless Priority Service (WPS) to maintain uninterrupted communication lines. To support this technological equipment, generators or alternative sources of power were also noted as import- ant. Specialized equipment could be required for specific types of emergencies and disasters, such as radioactive detection equipment to handle emergencies involving radioactive waste. Funding Sources/Barriers Participants indicated that funding for emergency pre- paredness programs often comes through federal grants and from general funds. Some jurisdictions reported using hotel occupation tax or tipping fees from waste haulers at landfills to fund emergency preparedness activities. Reve - nue generated by state lotteries was mentioned as another potential funding source, though participants noted these funds are not always sustainable.
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