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Community and Rural Health Planning
Public Health
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What you need to know

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The Nebraska Drug Supply Dashboard is Now Available

The new dashboard is tool that aides providers and public in locating pharmacies that have inventory of medications that are in short supply.​ View the dashboard from the Nebraska Pharmacists Association website.

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About emergency preparedness​

The Nebraska Emergency Preparedness and Readiness Unit (EPRU) strives to prepare for emergencies through response and recovery planning to reduce negative public health outcomes. Partnering with local, state, tribal, and health care partners, is critical to the EPRU team in strengthening our public health system and protecting people against future threats.

The federal government provides funding through grants to EPRU to assist with bioterrorism and emergency preparedness and response at the state and local levels.

Emergency preparedness starts with you

We must be ready to take care of ourselves, our families and our neighbors. We need to prepare to go it alone for at least a few days if we have to, until more help arrives. Being prepared for one emergency will help prepare for all kinds, including natural disasters and terrorism.   

Here are four things you can do right now:

  1. Talk with your family, friends, or household about emergencies. Think about things like who you would contact during an emergency and how would you reach them.  
  2. Make an emergency supply kit. What supplies would you need? Clothes, TV or radio, flashlights, first aid supplies. Remember food and water.
  3. Be informed and fill out a family emergency plan (see example from FEMA.gov). Listen and learn about what to do during an emergency.
  4. Practice your plan with your family or household. Revise your plan as needed.

For further information and useful planning examples and tools: https://www.ready.gov/make-a-plan​

Access and functional needs

Preparing for disasters and emergencies is important for all individuals and is especially critical for those with access and functional needs (AFN) who may need specialized assistance during an emergency. The Nebraska State Department of Health has ensured all planning efforts include the AFN populations.

Numerous states have embraced the term “Access and Functional Needs (AFN)" to include but are not limited to the following: people with disabilities, senior citizens, the hearing and vision impaired community, maternal and child health populations, non-English speaking populations, and people without transportation or housing. Defining these populations is unique for every community and requires an understanding of the different demographics represented in your area. Access-based needs refers to all people having access to certain resources, such as social services, accommodations, information, transportation, medications to maintain health, and so on.​

Strategic national stockpile (SNS):

  • The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)'s Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) is a repository of potentially life-saving pharmaceuticals and medical supplies for use in a public health emergency in which local supplies have been or may be depleted.
  • According to the Public Health Emergency Medical Countermeasures Enterprise (PHEMCE), medical countermeasures (MCMs) include both pharmaceutical interventions (e.g., vaccines, antimicrobials, antidotes, and antitoxins) and non-pharmaceutical interventions (e.g., ventilators and personal protective equipment) that may be used to prevent, mitigate, or treat adverse health effects from an intentional, accidental, or naturally occurring public health emergency.
  • Local organizations should reach out to their local health department in the event more resources are needed. ​

Useful l​inks