Introduction

Using the Toolkit

During a large-scale public health emergency, or other mass casualty event, your agency, and the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS), will have a key role in communicating to the public through the media.

We are pleased to present Missouri’s local public health agencies (LPHAs) with an update to the first edition of the Emergency Response Public Information Toolkit. This toolkit is a resource to help your LPHA develop and distribute public messages to help your community deal with emergencies.

If there is a mass casualty event a partnership between DHSS and the LPHAs will help insure that a consistent message is developed to avoid confusion and the spread of contradictory information.

This toolkit is a resource that includes fact sheets, press release templates and other materials you can customize to meet your particular needs. In addition, the materials are included electronically on a CD-Rom. You can also add your own templates and key messages to the binder.

The DHSS and regional public information officers (PIOs) worked together to prepare this toolkit. We will keep you informed on changes in these materials, and the DHSS Health Alert Network will continue to update you on public health issues.

We welcome your comments and suggestions for future editions and updates of the toolkit. For additional assistance or to share your comments, contact the DHSS Center for Emergency Response and Terrorism or your regional PIO. Their contact information is provided in the State/Regional/Local Resources section in this binder.