6 Colo. Code Regs. § 1009-5 Regulation 4

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 11, June 10, 2024

Regulation Regulation 4 - Preparations by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment for an Emergency Epidemic

1. CDPHE is required to maintain an up-to-date notification list for an emergency epidemic. The list shall include the Governor's Office, members of the Governor's Expert Emergency Epidemic Response Committee, general or critical access hospitals, local public health agencies, regional emergency medical and trauma services advisory councils, and the state Department of Public Safety. CDPHE is required at least once per year:

(A) to confirm the notification list is accurate and up to date, and

(B) to conduct a notification test or real incident communications by a broadcast fax or another communications method for rapid notification.

2. CDPHE is required to sign a uniform mutual aid agreement with all other local public health agencies subject to Section 25-1-501 et seq., C.R.S., which obligates CDPHE to render aid during an emergency epidemic unless CDPHE needs to withhold resources necessary to provide reasonable protection statewide. The agreement must be reviewed by the participating agencies at least every 5 years.

3. CDPHE shall prepare an internal response plan and associated Emergency Support Function #8 to the state emergency operations plan that mirrors the National Response Framework, which CDPHE will implement when there is an occurrence or imminent threat of an emergency epidemic. The plan shall be reviewed and updated as needed but at least every 3 years and shall be submitted to the Colorado Board of Health every 3 years. The CDPHE Plan will be publicly available. The plan shall address the following areas:

A) Organization: using the National Incident Management System and assignment of potentially all employees of The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to work on controlling the emergency epidemic;

B) Having sufficient supplies, training for staff using personal protective equipment and a process for the provision of personal protective equipment to employees who are assigned to work in areas where they may be exposed to ill and contagious persons or to infectious agents and waste. Personal protective equipment shall, at a minimum, be the equipment and supplies used to achieve standard precautions against bacterial and viral infections;

C) Procurement, storage and distribution of at least a three-day supply of an antibiotic as determined by CDPHE, that is effective against category A bacterial agents to be used as prophylaxis for all employees immediately responding. The plan shall include procurement of another antibiotic for a small number of employees who may be unable to take the antibiotic of first choice;

D) An emergency, after-hours call-down list of persons who may be needed to organize and respond to an emergency epidemic; such list shall include persons with experience and training in communicable disease epidemiology;

E) Creation of an operations center within CDPHE for the purpose of (i) centralizing telephone, radio, and other electronic communications; (ii) compiling surveillance data; (iii) maintaining a log of operations, decisions, resources, and orders necessary to control the epidemic; (iv) apportionment of pharmaceuticals; (v) monitoring the situation statewide and especially where the emergency epidemic is occurring; (vi) assessment and management of infection control statewide, and; (vii) assessment and management, in coordination with general and critical access hospitals and the county coroner, of the disposal of human corpses in accordance with Emergency Support Function #8;

F) Distribution and delivery of antibiotics, antiviral medications, vaccines, or other medications delivered from the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) needed in an emergency epidemic to locations determined by local public health agencies or local emergency management agencies;

G) Identification of a public information officer responsible for providing information to the citizens of the state about how to protect themselves, what actions are being taken to control the epidemic, and when the epidemic is over;

H) Maintenance of a rapid transport system for the delivery of human diagnostic specimens to the state laboratory, and;

I) Implementation of a back-up communications system, such as 800 megahertz radios or amateur radio emergency services, that will be used to communicate with the state office of emergency management and local public health agencies if and when telephone communications are disabled or not functioning; and maintenance of a rapid notification system.

4. CDPHE shall conduct at least one exercise of its plan every three years. If CDPHE activates its plan in response to one or more actual emergencies, these emergencies can serve in place of emergency response exercises. CDPHE shall complete an after-action report and improvement matrix within 60 days of exercise or real incident completion.

6 CCR 1009-5 Regulation 4

38 CR 15, August 10, 2015, effective 9/14/2015

42 CR 08, April 10, 2019, effective 5/15/2019

46 CR 06, March 25, 2023, effective 2/15/2023

46 CR 10, May 25, 2023, effective 6/14/2023