Emergency Management: LMPHU Role
In the context of emergency management, the LMPHU’s role is to be aware of local emergency health risks and where appropriate, provide place-based support to the Department of Health-led emergency management responses.
The State Emergency Management Plan identifies Department of Health as the control agency for:
- incidents involving biological releases and radioactive materials
- human disease/epidemics (including mass, rapid onset of human disease from any cause), and food (including retail food/drinking water contamination).
During a climate emergency, the Department of Health has a support function to minimise the impacts on individuals, communities, public health and the health system:
Further Information
The role of the LMPHU in emergency management still needs to be clarified. However, the 2022 floods that affected large areas of the Loddon Mallee region identified the potential role of the LMPHU. This included:
- undertake outreach vaccination visits to affected communities to deliver JEV, COVID-19 and influenza vaccination.
- undertake public health risk assessments at residential aged care facilities, emergency relief centres, temporary accommodation sites and incident control centres.
- support planning and coordination of priority public health messages for communications and engagement
- workforce support activities as directed through the Incident Management Team/control mechanisms
