CREST HAVEN – The Cape May County Department of Health received a Local Core Capacity for Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) grant that runs July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2020.
According to a release, the grant award for this year is $236,274. The purpose of the PHEP grant “is to strengthen state, local, tribal, and territorial public health preparedness and response capability through a continuous cycle of planning, organizing, training, equipping, exercising, evaluating and taking corrective action. An effective public health response will prevent or reduce morbidity and mortality from threats and emergencies whose scale, rapid onset, or unpredictability stresses the public health system and ensure the earliest possible recovery and return system to pre-incident levels or improved functioning.”
The objective of the grant is to maintain and strengthen the county’s preparedness and response for terrorism, hurricanes, snowstorms, influenza, and other miscellaneous public health emergencies.
The grant has a health alert system that is managed 24/7 to communicate with local stakeholders about potential emergencies and other health-related issues.
“This grant will help enhance our response for emergency situations which we always prepare for,” stated Freeholder Jeffrey Pierson, liaison to the Health Department. “The real work has to be done now to properly ensure we are ready for the possibility of one of these major issues to arise.”
Under the grant, there is a volunteer program called the Medical Reserve Corps. Cape May County Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) is a network of volunteers, organized locally to improve the health and safety of our community.
MRC volunteers include medical and public health professionals, as well as other community members without healthcare backgrounds.
MRC volunteers help to strengthen public health, improve emergency response capabilities and build community resiliency.
They prepare for and respond to natural disasters, such as hurricanes, blizzards, and floods, as well as other emergencies affecting public health, such as disease outbreaks.
They frequently contribute to community health activities that promote healthy habits. For more information please visit www.cmchealth.net.
“Our departments always work well together, and this is another example,” stated Freeholder Director Gerald M. Thornton. “I oversee our Office of Emergency Management and having this grant that the Health Department received will only strengthen the cooperative efforts for a major emergency event.”
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