R7DHRE Resource Guide

This page serves as a reference of potentially available resources for HHS Region 7 partners in the event of an all hazards incident.

  • It is not intended to replace, supersede, or dictate how a response is conducted. These references were collected through searches and conversations and do not infer an exhaustive or all-inclusive list of regional resources.

  • Partners who choose to reference this page should follow their existing response plans and structure and use the resource page as an adjunct to their response efforts.

  • When utilizing resources during a disaster, local resources should be utilized first prior to engaging with state, regional, and national resources.

Click on each level of resources to see what resources are available to your organization during an emergency or disaster.

  • Local/County Emergency Management

    Local emergency management agencies are at the local level that hold responsibility for comprehensively planning for and responding to and recovering from all manner of disasters, whether man-made or natural.

    • Find your local emergency manager: Iowa Kansas Missouri Nebraska

    Local Public Health Department

    Local health departments are administrative or a service unit of local or state government concerned with health and carrying out some responsibility for the health of a jurisdiction smaller than the state.

    Health Care Coalitions

    A healthcare coalition is a group of individual healthcare and response organizations (e.g. hospitals, EMS, emergency management, and public health agencies) in a defined geographic location that play a critical role in partnering to prepare for and respond to disasters. HCCs serve as multi-agency coordinating groups that support and integrate with ESF-8 activities in jurisdictional incident command systems.

    Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT)

    The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program educates volunteers about disaster preparedness for the hazards that may occur where they live. CERT trains volunteers in basic disaster response skills, such as safety first, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations.

    Medical Reserve Corps

    The Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) is a national network of more than 300,000 volunteers, organized locally to improve the health and safety of their communities. MRC volunteers participate in and support the following: emergency preparedness and response trainings and exercises, emergency shelter operations and medical care, disaster medical and behavioral health support, search and rescue, disaster clean-up and recovery support, along with many more capabilities. Local chapters may exist.

  • State Emergency Management Agency (EMA)

    The state EMA will assess the disaster and coordination with local management and recommend to the Governor if a state declaration is needed.

    State National Guard

    In the event of a disaster or emergency, local government responds using local resources. When these resources are deemed inadequate and state resources are required to cope with the situation, local officials can reach out to their state emergency management agency (EMA). The state EMA will assess the disaster and make a recommendation to the Governor on whether a state declaration is needed.

    State Poison Centers

    America’s Poison Centers represents the 53 accredited poison control centers in the U.S. Through the national Poison Help line (1-800-222-1222) and PoisonHelp.org website, member centers provide all Americans expert advice, 24/7/365 at no cost. Poison centers also maintain the National Poison Data System© (NPDS), our nation’s only near real-time poisoning data surveillance system, integrating the latest information from across Poison Centers.

  • Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Center

    The Region VII Special Pathogen Treatment Center (RESPTC) is located a Nebraska Medicine on the University of Nebraska Medical Center campus. As the RESPTC for the Region VII area, the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit is prepared to care for patients with highly hazardous communicable infectious diseases and is committed to sharing our knowledge and expertise by providing educational offerings.

    Regional Disaster Health Response Ecosystem

    To enhance regional coordination, ASPR has funded RDHRS/E sites to establish and mature multi-state partnerships, building on local healthcare coalitions and trauma centers, and integrating local medical response capabilities with emergency medical services, burn centers, pediatric hospitals, labs and outpatient services to meet overwhelming healthcare needs created by disasters.

    ASPR Region VII Office

    Region 7 fosters creative and productive partnerships between private and public sectors and supports innovative approaches to public health prevention and promotion.

  • FEMA

    FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) mission is to support the citizens and first responders to promote that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepared for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.

    National Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment and Education Center (NETEC)

    NETEC’s mission is to set the gold standard for special pathogen preparedness and response across health system in the U.S. with the goals of driving best practices, closing knowledge gaps, and developing innovative resources.

    National Disaster Medical System-Disaster Medical Assistance Teams

    NDMS DMAT teams provide high-quality rapid-response medical care when public health and medical emergencies overwhelm state, local, tribal, or territorial resources. Highly adaptable, DMAT members are trained to fill a variety of impactful roles, from performing medical triage and emergency care to supporting infusion centers and vaccine sites to decompressing hospital emergency rooms to supporting patient movement and more.

  • Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD)

    National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) was founded over 50 years ago in response to the challenges many disaster organizations experienced following Hurricane Camille, a category 5 storm that hit the Gulf Coast in August 1969. Up until that time, numerous governmental, private sector and nonprofit organizations served disaster survivors independently of one another. As a result, help came to the survivors haphazardly.

    In 1970, seven national disaster response organizations convened for the first time to find a way to better coordinate responses and more effectively serve disaster survivors and their communities. As an outcome, National VOAD was formed as a forum for sharing knowledge and coordinating resources — money, materials and muscle – throughout the disaster cycle: preparation, response and recovery.

    Today, National VOAD is a coalition of 70+ of the nation’s most reputable national organizations (faith-based, community-based and other non-profit organizations) and 56 State/Territory VOADs, which represent Local/Regional VOADs and hundreds of other member organizations throughout the country.

    Community Organizations Active in Disaster (COAD)

    COADs work within the State/Territory VOAD structure at the local level. This group of local community organizations work together during a disaster to provide coordination of services to ensure that unmet needs are addressed, provide financial assistance and supplies, and to share knowledge and resources with local residents during a disaster.

    Long Term Recovery Groups

    A long term recovery group (LTRG) is a cooperative body that is made up of representatives from faith-based, non-profit, government, business and other organizations working within a community to assist individuals and families as they recover from disaster.

    LTRGs are as varied in their structure as are the communities in which they work. The personality and operation of each group is unique and reflects local needs, available resources, cultural diversity, leadership style, and community support. No matter how a group is structured or what it calls itself the goal is the same: to unite recovery resources with community needs in order to ensure that even the most vulnerable in the community recover from a specific disaster.