Building a strong and sustainable workforce for future disasters requires training and exercising current professionals, thinking long-term and recruiting for positions, and creating the pipeline of professionals needed years from now. A capable and ready workforce includes a diverse group of professionals and volunteers responsible for planning, executing, and managing response efforts during public health emergencies. Agencies will need to continually assess public health needs and changing health department dynamics and public health threats to ensure staff develop the right skills. This well-prepared, competent, and adaptable workforce is crucial to providing efficient, effective, and equitable responses to public health emergencies, ultimately promoting community resilience and safeguarding public health.
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Surge Staffing
Disasters and public health emergencies can exact heavy demands on the workforce across state and territorial health departments. More than likely, surge staffing will be needed, whether to augment capacity in real-time due to mass casualty incidents or large vaccination clinics or to provide some relief during long-term emergencies to prevent employee burnout and exhaustion. Sometimes, the intersection of acute and long-term crises can compound this need even further. Examining potential future needs within your jurisdiction or across fields can help you better prepare for surge staffing events, and looking to partners for lessons is a great place to start. Learn more >
Knowledge Managment
Public health emergencies and disasters often trigger an influx of information that can overwhelm data systems in state and territorial health departments. Efficient knowledge management becomes crucial, whether to handle real-time data related to large-scale health incidents or to process long-term research data effectively. The intersection of acute and chronic health crises can further compound this need, necessitating robust and adaptable knowledge management systems.
Anticipating future information needs within your jurisdiction or across different fields can pave the way for enhanced preparation for such data surges. Moreover, learning from partners’ experiences, whether or not they're from similar states, territories, or industries, can provide invaluable insights into managing knowledge effectively. This can also help to prevent data loss and ensure crucial information is readily accessible when needed, ultimately improving response time and effectiveness during public health emergencies. Learn more >
Improved Onboarding
When bringing on new staff, using cross-cutting methods and interventions may address multiple goals. For example, a new employee who feels seen, heard, supported, and valued is much more likely to invest in their position and start contributing as soon as possible. Strengthening internal processes and infrastructure capabilities, building opportunities to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion, and prioritizing employee mental health and well-being in the onboarding process can result in strong long-term returns on those investments. Especially in the context of emergencies, having a well-trained and committed workforce from the beginning can contribute to a strong department response. Learn more >
Recruitment
While ensuring a strong workforce for today is often centered on training and onboarding already qualified professionals, the ever-changing dynamics of public health, government funding, and emergencies demand longer-term planning to ensure a health department's capability to successfully respond when needed. This can include examining predicted workforce or personnel shortages across certain fields or topic areas and taking proactive steps to build partnerships with other sectors or create pipelines for recruiting students or other young people. Many states and territories have already started implementing legislation or other solutions to ensure the right pathways and career tracks are in place for future response needs. Learn more >
Surge Staffing
Disasters and public health emergencies can exact heavy demands on the workforce across state and territorial health departments. More than likely, surge staffing will be needed, whether to augment capacity in real-time due to mass casualty incidents or large vaccination clinics or to provide some relief during long-term emergencies to prevent employee burnout and exhaustion. Sometimes, the intersection of acute and long-term crises can compound this need even further. Examining potential future needs within your jurisdiction or across fields can help you better prepare for surge staffing events, and looking to partners for lessons is a great place to start. Learn more >
Knowledge Managment
Public health emergencies and disasters often trigger an influx of information that can overwhelm data systems in state and territorial health departments. Efficient knowledge management becomes crucial, whether to handle real-time data related to large-scale health incidents or to process long-term research data effectively. The intersection of acute and chronic health crises can further compound this need, necessitating robust and adaptable knowledge management systems.
Anticipating future information needs within your jurisdiction or across different fields can pave the way for enhanced preparation for such data surges. Moreover, learning from partners’ experiences, whether or not they're from similar states, territories, or industries, can provide invaluable insights into managing knowledge effectively. This can also help to prevent data loss and ensure crucial information is readily accessible when needed, ultimately improving response time and effectiveness during public health emergencies. Learn more >
Improved Onboarding
When bringing on new staff, using cross-cutting methods and interventions may address multiple goals. For example, a new employee who feels seen, heard, supported, and valued is much more likely to invest in their position and start contributing as soon as possible. Strengthening internal processes and infrastructure capabilities, building opportunities to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion, and prioritizing employee mental health and well-being in the onboarding process can result in strong long-term returns on those investments. Especially in the context of emergencies, having a well-trained and committed workforce from the beginning can contribute to a strong department response. Learn more >
Recruitment
While ensuring a strong workforce for today is often centered on training and onboarding already qualified professionals, the ever-changing dynamics of public health, government funding, and emergencies demand longer-term planning to ensure a health department's capability to successfully respond when needed. This can include examining predicted workforce or personnel shortages across certain fields or topic areas and taking proactive steps to build partnerships with other sectors or create pipelines for recruiting students or other young people. Many states and territories have already started implementing legislation or other solutions to ensure the right pathways and career tracks are in place for future response needs. Learn more >
Email the preparedness team with questions or comments.