Sunday, November 24, 2024
11/24/2024
The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) is the lead state agency for Emergency Support Function (ESF) #8 and, as such, receives funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) program for state, regional and local preparedness efforts. In Texas, local health departments (LHDs) have primary responsibility for preparedness at the local level. During five-year project period, Texas will work to increase its effectiveness across the six preparedness domains: community resilience, incident management, information management, countermeasures and mitigation, surge management, and biosurveillance. In developing budget period (BP) 1 priorities, Texas utilized findings from PHEP Capabilities Planning Guides, jurisdictional risk assessments, hazard and vulnerabilities assessments, and after action reviews from exercises and real events. Texas’ BP1 priorities include: Situational Awareness. DSHS will continue to expand access to Red Sky, a situational awareness and information sharing platform, and explore integration of other data collection sites such as EMResource and the DSHS syndromic surveillance system. Self-Sustaining Training and Exercise Program. DSHS will work closely with Public Health Regions, LHDs, and the HCC Lead Organizations to leverage preparedness gaps and inform a progressive series of linked public health and medical exercises through the "Mighty Elixir" exercise strategy. At-Risk and Vulnerable Population Planning. DSHS and stakeholders will conduct inclusive planning that incorporates the needs of populations at-risk, including pediatrics, to ensure benefit from preparedness and response plans and activities. Incident Command Coordination. DSHS will continue to utilize the Hurricane Harvey Improvement Plan and lessons learned from the event to prioritize goals and activities, including revising the state Basic Plan and annexes, expanding State Medical Operations Center (SMOC) training, and developing and conducting exercises. Texas will document progress towards meeting the goals of the 2017-2022 Health Care Preparedness and Response Capabilities, the Public Health Preparedness and Response Capabilities: National Standards for State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial Public Health, and the associated six domains, as described in the PHEP Cooperative Agreement logic model. DSHS will demonstrate improved response outcomes through exercises and responses to incidents and events, and will follow a process improvement model that incorporates the successes and challenges identified during exercises and incidents.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
