Fairfax County Health Department is a dynamic, nationally recognized Health Department with a robust and active emergency management office. The Health Department’s Office of Emergency Preparedness and Response (EP&R) ensures that Health Department staff and volunteers, county government organizations and non-governmental partners, and residents of Fairfax County are prepared for and able to respond to and recover from naturally occurring and man-made public health emergencies in Fairfax County.

You can get involved with emergency management activities and make a difference in the Fairfax community by joining the Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) or completing an internship with EP&R.

Medical Reserve Corps

Fairfax MRC is a volunteer program designed to increase the ability of our public health system to help our community when disaster strikes. Learn how you can become an MRC volunteer and receive free training.

Internships

The Health Department’s EP&R accepts qualified graduate- or undergraduate-level students studying public health or emergency management for unpaid internships in public health emergency management.

Interns in EP&R work on critical public health emergency preparedness and response issues, expand their understanding of emergency management principles at the local, state and federal levels, develop and hone their professional skills and capabilities, and form relationships with public health and emergency response professionals throughout the National Capital Region.

Interns are immersed in all aspects of public health emergency management. Examples of activities, projects and knowledge areas in which EP&R interns work include:

• Fundamentals of public health emergency management and the public health impacts of naturally occurring emergencies (e.g., disease outbreaks, severe weather) and acts of terrorism (e.g., biological terrorism, complex coordinated attacks).
• Emerging public health threats.
• All hazards emergency planning.
• Real-world emergency responses.
• The National Incident Management System (NIMS) and Incident Command System (ICS).
• Training development, delivery and evaluation.
• Emergency exercise program implementation and evaluation.
• Medical materiel logistics.
• Grant management and budget management.
• Volunteer coordination and management.
• Collaboration and partnership development; networking with public health and first responder professionals.
• Development of written and oral presentations; public speaking to diverse audiences.
• Data collection and analysis.
• Health care emergency preparedness.
• Other public health activities based on the intern’s interests and career goals.

If you want to gain critical skills and practical experience that will expand your knowledge and capabilities and broaden your professional network, email hdinternships@fairfaxcounty.gov.