Regional Response to Pandemic FAQ
Answers to questions posed at the May, 2006 pandemic plan preview meetings.
Posted: 7/12/06
Why is there going to be no regional EOCs established by HSEM?
Minnesota State Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEM) will help staff multiagency coordination center (MACs), however we will not establish separate Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs).
There is no mention of a regional MAC and how that role plays in a pan flu response. Will the state EOC want to talk to 87+EOC’s or 8 MAC’s?
From the health perspective, the regional public health and hospital systems have been developing a regional coordination effort known as the Multi-Agency Coordination Center (MAC). This system provides a means to manage resource coordination within the existing regions for resources including personnel, hospital beds and supplies, assuring communication is consistent with all providers in the region, identifying needs that can’t be met with existing regional resources and developing a request for assistance from another region or the state, or offering surplus regional resources to another part of the state. It is anticipated that the MACs will be operational during a pandemic and will be staffed by at least the Regional Hospital Resource Coordinator, the Public Health Preparedness Consultant, the District Epidemiologist, a local public health liaison and others as appropriate.
