CDC and local health orgs working with religious organizations for emergency preparedness | 11.27.2006 | 06:21:48 | Views: 5568 | ID: November 27 '06: Churches and other religious organizations play a vital role in their communities during emergency situations because of their intimate knowledge of the community and their outreach. To help build on that relationship and response ability, the Centers for Disease Control and the Springfield-Greene County Health Department in Missouri are partnering to work with faith-based organizations in the local area to help improve emergency preparedness and response capabilities. A workshop was scheduled to be held Monday, November 27 with representatives from the CDC who were expected to talk about the importance of faith-based organizations working with their local emergency management agencies and first responders. According to the press release from Springfield-Greene County Health Department, more than 56% percent of the total population of the local community are affiliated with a religious organization "so it will be vitally important for churches [and other religious organizations] to ensure their families and communities are cared for." Molly Holtmann, the pandemic health planner for Springfield-Greene County said, "We hope the event will raise awareness on how faith-based communities can protect and care for members of their congregations during emergencies such as pandemic influenza, tornadoes and bioterrorism." The News-Leader quoted Holtmann saying that during a pandemic or other large-scale disease outbreak, "Response agencies will likely have limited resources, so it will be vitally important for churches to ensure their families and communities are cared for."
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