Emergency/Disaster Preparedness

The Cuyahoga County Board of Health has developed an Emergency Preparedness Program to provide specialized services to our communities during and after an emergency situation. These situations include natural disasters, such as floods, blizzards, earthquakes, or tornadoes, and accidents, such as a fire, chemical spill, broken water main, or sanitary sewer main. Specific information on Flood Area Safety and Sanitation is available in a fact sheet available on this web site. A comprehensive Flood Recovery Document can also be downloaded from the Ohio Department of Health website.

The Board of Health has entered into an agreement with the Cuyahoga Emergency Management Advisory Board to serve as a Cuyahoga Major Emergency Incident Management System (CMEIMS) agency. Under this agreement, the Board of Health has agreed to provide information or assistance in the event of a an Emergency Incident. Some of these include providing:

• an inventory of potable water suppliers, water haulers, beverage manufacturers and distributors, dairies, and ice manufacturers capable of responding in an emergency situation to supply potable water
• information to the public on the appropriate procedures for emergency disinfection of drinking water and how to get safe drinking water during an emergency
• guidelines for the use or destruction of food products involved in fires, floods, radiation, etc.
• support and assistance in cleanup and recovery operations.
• Water damage clean up recommendations - small areas.
• information on the temporary handling of human waste and garbage
• an inventory of portable toilet suppliers and sewage haulers
• information to the public on proper insect and rodent control in an emergency
• assistance in identifying sources of necessary medical supplies, determining the need for inoculations to prevent the spread of contagious diseases, and recommendations regarding the establishment of quarantines

The Board of Health also acts proactively by participating in emergency training exercises and mock emergencies to evaluate local emergency response capabilities.