EMS707 — Rural Response to Emergencies
Presenter: Sherie Wallace, Rural Preparedness Project Coordinator, University of PittsburghThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has one of the nation's largest rural populations with estimates of more than 2.8 million rural residents. Forty-eight of Pennsylvania's 67 counties are classified rural, and 18 of the remaining 19 counties have rural municipalities. Pennsylvania also has the lowest ration of public health workers to population in the nation; 37 per 100,000. These workers are mostly concentrated in urban areas and are largely comprised of the staffs of the state health department and 10 independent health departments. Given the sparse governmental public health workforce, rural public health response in Pennsylvania must rely on traditional responders including hospitals, voluntary services organizations, EMTs, fire, and police. To assure continuity with the integrated emergency management system, it is critical that all of these responders understand and fulfill the role of public health relative to emergency preparedness.(6 hour presentation)