What Is the Role of Public Health in Emergency Preparedness?

By Dr. Jessica Sapp  |  09/04/2025

Public health is often associated with vaccines and infectious diseases, but it is much more than just disease control. In essence, public health includes anything that affects population health.  

Public health organizations are primary resources for protecting communities against major health emergencies like pandemic influenza, but their role has expanded greatly with public health emergency preparedness (PHEP). Over the past two decades, it has become clear just how vital public health is in emergency response for our nation and its future.

What Is Public Health Emergency Preparedness?

Public health preparedness is the capability of public health and healthcare systems to protect against, respond to, and recover from public health emergencies.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “PHEP efforts support the National Response Framework, which guides how the nation responds to all types of hazards including infectious disease outbreaks; natural disasters affecting environmental health; biological, chemical, and radiological incidents; and explosions.”

PHEP Stakeholders

Emergency preparedness for public health emergencies involves a broad range of stakeholders, including:

• Government agencies
• Non-government organizations
• Fire and rescue services
• Law enforcement
• Businesses
• Public health organizations
• Healthcare systems and health departments
• Communities

Public health emergency preparedness and response also involve other stakeholders such as the public. Engaging the public is essential for public health emergency preparedness.

The Whole Community Approach

Whether responding to public health emergencies caused by natural or manmade disasters, it is helpful to consider the Whole Community approach. According to FEMA, the Whole Community approach involves:

• Individuals and families, including people with access and functional needs
• Businesses
• Faith-based and community organizations
• Nonprofit groups
• Schools and academia
• Media outlets
• All levels of government, including state, local, tribal, territorial, and federal partners

Communities become more resilient when everyone quickly responds to prevent public health emergencies and cope with natural disasters. Ideally, community collaboration and coordination should begin during the planning stages of public health emergency preparedness so that severe health consequences can be avoided.

Emergency Management Systems Can Be Flawed at Times

Although emergency management systems involve considerable planning, they can have their flaws as well. There were two events that heavily influenced our progress in public health emergency preparedness:

• The September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001
• Hurricane Katrina in 2005

Due to the high number of victims, both disasters overwhelmed routine capabilities of emergency services. They also revealed numerous vulnerabilities in emergency response services, such as communication, recovery, and interruptions to supply chains.

The National Incident Management System

The lessons learned in response to the 9/11 attacks led to the creation of the National Incident Management System (NIMS) by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in March 2004. Since its inception, NIMS has served as the nation’s standard for managing emergency response and risks of our communities.

According to FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, one objective of NIMS is “to enhance unity of effort among everyone who may be involved in incident response. This has never been more critical than today, as disasters continue to increase in severity and frequency across the United States.”

The National Response Framework

The National Response Framework (NRF) replaced the National Response Plan in January 2008, which incorporates the disaster response lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina. The NRF includes 15 Emergency Support Functions (ESFs), which provide the structure for coordinating federal interagency support for a federal response to an incident. ESF #8 covers public health and medical services and provides supplemental assistance to state, tribal, and local governments.

Public Health and Emergency Response Planning

Comprehensive emergency operations plans should include four phases:

• Mitigation
• Preparedness
• Response
• Recovery

Regardless of the emergency, public health should be included in these areas of planning and implementation. Most emergencies involving communities require some type of public health or medical services, especially as emerging threats to public health and homeland security increase.

Examples of Public Health’s Role in Emergency Response

Public health preparedness plays a vital role in emergency response to many events. From terrorist attacks to natural disasters, public health agencies support response efforts, provide medical care, and help communities cope with disasters during the recovery phase.

2001 World Trade Center Attacks

Although the National Incident Management System and National Response Framework were not implemented until after 9/11, public health still had a role in its emergency response. For example, CDC staff provided technical assistance by monitoring air quality and workers’ personal protection equipment (PPE).

In 2002, CDC worked with the New York City Health Department to design the World Trade Center Registry. The Registry tracks the physical and mental health status of local populations exposed to smoke, dust, and airborne contaminants from the World Trade Center site.

2010 Haiti Earthquake

After the 2010 Haiti earthquake, multiple countries, including the U.S., provided humanitarian aid to Haiti. According to a Pan-American Health Organization report, “Health assistance from the United States ranged from the high-tech medical technology of the USNS Comfort naval hospital to clinical and epidemiological support provided by the CDC to the Haitian Ministry of Public Health.”

2016 Pulse Shooting

The Pulse nightclub shooting was a mass casualty event targeting the LGBTQ+ community in Orlando, Florida. The attack resulted in the death of 49 people and wounded over 60 others. Coordination among hospitals, emergency services, and the community was essential to prompt emergency response and recovery.

Due to the overwhelming number of patients, local healthcare systems were past their surge capacity and faced difficulties treating all of the Pulse victims. The regional Level I trauma center, Orlando Regional Medical Center, and two community hospitals quickly mobilized to treat the injured.

Family assistance services were later implemented after the shooting. For instance, the Orlando United Assistance Center provided a centralized resource for the long-term mental health needs of local populations. Similarly, local health and human services also provided aid.

2021 Hurricane Ida

Hurricane Ida, a powerful Category 4 hurricane, devastated Louisiana in August 2021. Although natural disasters' unpredictability threatens everyone, improvements to disaster preparedness made after Hurricane Katrina resulted in fewer fatalities.

Also, faith-based and community organizations assisted in helping local communities respond to and recover from the damage caused by Hurricane Ida. Partnering with local churches, Samaritan’s Purse, a nondenominational Christian organization, sent its Disaster Relief Units to Louisiana to assist local populations affected by the hurricane.

Samaritan’s Purse volunteers cleared debris, removed mud from flooded homes, and placed tarps on roofs. Also, the Environmental Protection Agency deployed resources such as the ASPECT aircraft, mobile drinking water labs, and subject matter experts to help communities impacted by the storm.

Emergency Preparedness Is a Continuous Process

Emergency preparedness involves a coordinated and continuous process. Without measuring performance or taking corrective action after disasters, our emergency response cannot be improved. This process improvement directly impacts communities as they respond to and recover from major disasters and disease outbreaks.

Strategic preparedness and response are key to a community’s resilience and recovery. It takes many stakeholders and organizations to keep people safe in emergencies. With strategic planning, emergency response teams can engage in rapid response, effective coordination, and improved recovery.

Communication is also essential to successful prevention and response, because public health preparedness relies on effective communication. The Incident Command System within NIMS is essential because it establishes a chain of command that directly influences communication channels.

As with all emergency operations, coordination must begin in the planning phase. Communities must clearly define roles and responsibilities for everyone involved in emergency response. Developing public information and communication strategies is crucial for delivering credible information during emergencies.

Training and Lessons Learned

Constant training and learning lessons from previous disasters are necessary for every emergency response team. Without knowing what went wrong, we can’t begin to make changes to get it right next time.

Public health emergency preparedness requires the continuous improvement and frequent testing of plans. Training is the best way to practice and test emergency plans before they are put into action. In addition, training and mentoring local leaders enhances community engagement in preparedness activities.

Debriefings and hot washes, as well as discussing what lessons have been learned from responding to an incident, are all part of process improvement. Discussions should be held after every emergency and each training exercise to improve emergency preparedness and response teams.

The Master’s in Public Health at AMU

For students interested in seeking a public health degree, American Military University (AMU) offers an online Master of Public Health (MPH). Students pursuing this degree will take courses in various subjects, including:

• Emergency Management Health and Medical Issues
• Quarantine
• Disaster Health Management
• Epidemiology

This academic program has received specialty accreditation from the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH®). This accreditation ensures that the courses in this program have been carefully examined by higher education professionals to meet high academic standards.

For more information, visit our health sciences degree program page.

Note: This program has special admission requirements.

CEPH is a registered trademark of the Council on Education for Public Health.