Health care system preparedness is the ability of a community’s health care system to prepare, respond, and recover from incidents that have a public health and medical impact in the short and long term.

The health care system role in community preparedness involves coordination with emergency management, public health, mental/behavioral health providers, community and faith-based partners, state, local, and territorial governments to do the following:

  • Provide and sustain a tiered, scalable and flexible approach to attain needed disaster response and recovery capabilities while not jeopardizing services to individuals in the community
  • Provide timely monitoring and management of resources
  • Coordinate the allocation of emergency medical care resources
  • Provide timely and relevant information on the status of the incident and healthcare system to key stakeholders

Healthcare system preparedness is achieved through a continuous cycle of planning, organizing and equipping, training, exercises, evaluations, and corrective actions.

Collaboration with the South Dakota Health Care Coalition can assist healthcare partners achieve their planning, exercising, and preparedness goals.