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Program Description
The Leon county Health Department is responsible for responding to potential health
hazards and to provide emergency procedures for the prevention and control of disease
spread. This program is essential to Leon county residents because disasters such as
hurricanes, tornadoes, and wild fires often strike the community quickly and without
warning, cutting off basic services such as water, gas, electric, and phone. In the
event of a disaster, community nurses from the Health Department work in concert with
local officials and relief workers in providing aid to citizens. Specifically,
community health nurses are utilized to:
- manage staffing of special needs shelters;
- provide information and education to the public regarding minor health needs and safety
of food and water;
- implement a disease surveillance system to collect and analyze outbreaks;
- investigate noninfectious illness or conditions resulting from the disaster;
- investigate reports of communicable or unusual diseases;
- conduct immunization campaigns if appropriate.
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