Health Department

Weather Events

Unfortunately, severe weather is something the Mid-Ohio Valley has become all to accustom to dealing with. We have had floods, snow and ice storms, windstorms and other events.

There are many agencies and organizations throughout Washington County that assist in response and recovery during these emergencies, from local first responders (Fire, EMS, and Law Enforcement) to County Departments and agencies such as the EMA (Emergency management Agency) and the Health Department.

During large scale emergencies the Washington County EMA opens what is called an EOC (Emergency Operations Center), here representatives from fire, hospitals, public works, Red Cross, City’s and village’s, health department’s and many others work together to find resources (equipment, supplies and manpower) to assist local responders with rescue and recovery. This is a very important operation, because it allows us to request things from outside our local area (other counties, the State of Ohio, and other States).To learn more http://www.ema.ohio.gov/oema.asp

The health department’s role during events such as flooding are public education on health related issues, such as hygiene and sanitation, disease prevention, ensuring fresh water, providing vaccine, such as Tetanus, information on cleanup procedures, and providing whatever physical assets that we can spare.

NOAA : The Office of Services produces outreach materials to increase the public’s awareness of weather safety and emergency preparedness. Many publications are ONLY available online--their is no printed version available. These publications say DOWNLOAD. You can order printed copies of SOME of the publications from your Local NWS Office, the NOAA Outreach Unit, or American Red Cross. There is no charge for any of the publications. You need a free copy of Abobe reader to view "pdf" files. http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/brochures.shtml