DEPARTMENT: Public Health
FILE TYPE: Regular Information
TITLE
title
Emergency Preparedness Update
end
PURPOSE/ACTION REQUESTED
Receive an overview of the Emergency Preparedness program.
SUMMARY
Pursuant to Minn. Stat. ? 375A.04, the Dakota County Board of Commissioners is, and performs the duties and exercises the powers of, a community health board under Minn. Stat. ch. 145A, including the responsibility to promote and protect the public health of Dakota County residents. The County's duties under chapter 145A include assuring a well-functioning public health system that includes partnership development, community mobilization and quality improvement, and assessing the availability of health-related services and health care providers in the community, including by convening community partners to improve local health systems.
The Emergency Preparedness (EP) program provides a variety of services designed to prepare and respond to public health emergencies. This includes trainings, exercises and partner engagement. This program has responded to several real-world emergencies in the past year including a Measles response, Federal Shutdown Response and the response to Operation Metro Surge.
OUTCOMES
How much?
The EP program ensures that Dakota County is ready to respond to emergencies with a public health impact. The EP team held three trainings, three exercises and three real-world responses this past year.
How well?
Emergency Preparedness consistently gets high ratings on evaluations for exercises from participants and is regularly told by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) that Dakota County is a high-performing county in the metro region.
Is anyone better off?
EP successfully coordinated and supported three real-world responses in the past year: Measles in September 2025, the Federal Shutdown from October through November 2025 and the countywide response to Operation Metro Surge. This helped Dakota County successfully navigate the response and ...
Click here for full text