The Health Department’s Office of Emergency Preparedness and Response (EP&R) is the primary local government resource for health care providers in Fairfax County and offers preparedness assistance in a variety of ways:
- In-person or telephone consultations for general preparedness information.
- Guidance and/or technical assistance in planning emergency exercises and writing emergency plans.
- Trainings to staff on personal and family preparedness or other health and medical emergency management topics (as available).
Effective November 15, 2016, health care providers and suppliers that receive reimbursements from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services must be in compliance with Emergency Preparedness regulations outlined in the Emergency Preparedness Requirements for Medicare and Medicaid Participating Providers and Suppliers. These rules were implemented on November 16, 2017, and apply to specific provider and supplier types.
Frequently Asked Questions
Health care facilities are responsible for planning facility emergency drills/exercises. The Health Department can provide technical assistance on the process of planning an exercise/drill, coordinate participation of Fairfax County responder agencies, and participate in your facility’s exercise/drill as “players” if your scenario involves play from the Health Department or as evaluators.
The Health Department EP&R can review emergency plans and provide recommendations as time permits. Any feedback provided are strictly recommendations and facilities are under no obligation to comply with the recommendations. Review of these plans does not guarantee approval by certification/licensing agencies or the ability of a facility to adequately respond to an emergency and should not be construed as being approved by Health Department or any other Fairfax County authority.
Fairfax County does not identify mandatory evacuation zones. You may look up an address to identify whether it is within a flood-prone area by using the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Special Flood Hazard Areas map on Fairfax County’s website. Residents are strongly encouraged to evacuate if advised to do so by local authorities.
Fairfax County residents are encouraged to register in the Fairfax Alerts system, a service that allows residents to opt-in to receive emergency alerts, notifications and updates via email, text message, and/or voice communication methods. When registering, your patients can select the “Functional Needs Subscription” to pre-identify themselves as having a functional/medical need. You can read more about the Functional Needs Subscription at the Fairfax Alerts Frequently Asked Questions web page.