As we recognize September as National Preparedness Month, U.S. and international emergency personnel have been overwhelmed with responses to the hurricanes, floods, earthquakes and wildfires experienced in this month alone. While these responders often put their lives on the line for public safety, we at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) together with our partners work to keep these responders safe.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recently announced the availability of a new software platform called ERHMS Info Manager™ to track and monitor emergency response and recovery worker activities during all phases of emergency response following a natural disaster or other public health emergency. ERHMS Info Manager™ is a custom-built software product developed by NIOSH that emergency responder organizations can use to implement the Emergency Responder Health Monitoring and Surveillance (ERHMS™) framework. The ERHMS™ framework provides recommendations for protecting emergency responders during small and large emergencies across all three phases of a response- the pre-deployment, deployment and post-deployment phases. NIOSH, along with partner agencies and departments at the local, state, and federal levels, developed the ERHMS™ framework following the collapse of the World Trade Center when the subsequent health problems experienced by responders illustrated an urgent need for improved health monitoring and surveillance of emergency responders.