emergency response

First responders play a vital role in protecting Vermonter's health and well-being. Here are resources to support first reponders in their work.

Whether you want to become a more resilient responder, help yourself or a loved one, or reduce the stigma around mental health in your community, we have resources for you.

Resources for families and caregivers using Emergency Medical Services for their children. 

Health care professionals protect the health of Vermonters through efforts to mitigate, prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters, infectious disease, terrorism and mass casualty emergencies. The Health Department supports these efforts in many ways.

There are a number of programs and initiatives for EMS agencies looking to expand their scope of practice, increase their volunteer ranks and become more engaged in their community.

infection control officer resources

EMS providers deliver medical care in many unique and oftentimes dangerous environments. One of the risks they encounter in dealing with increasingly mobile populations is the potential of exposure to an infectious or emerging disease.

The Vermont Statewide Incident Reporting Network (SIREN) is a comprehensive electronic prehospital patient care data collection, analysis and reporting system that has been in use since 2010. EMS reporting serves several important functions, including legal documentation, quality improvement initiatives, billing, and evaluation of individual and agency performance measures.

In January 2010 Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station notified the Health Department that samples taken in November 2009 from a ground water monitoring well contained tritium, signaling an unintended release of radioactive material.

How prepared are we to respond to public health emergencies – infectious disease outbreaks, environmental threats, natural or man-made disasters?

The Vermont Department of Health worked with the Department of Environmental Conservation to respond to health concerns related to detection of the chemical PFOA in private drinking water wells in Bennington and North Bennington. 

The Vermont Department of Health worked with the Agency of Agriculture to investigate the misue of the pesticide chlorpyrifos in treating residences in the Rutland area for bed bugs and other pests.