National Preparedness Month happens every September, making it a good time to ensure your emergency plans and kit are up to date. Just as individuals and families have emergency plans, so do municipalities. Public Health Emergency plans are created, reviewed and updated often by the Public Health Emergency Preparedness Coordinator at the Putnam County Department of Health, Connie Bueti, MPH. These plans, and practicing the plans, help ensure that the health department is ready and able to respond to all sorts of public health emergencies. Continue reading to learn more about Connie and her work at the health department.

What is your favorite part of working at the health department?

Knowing there are dedicated colleagues that work hard to have a positive impact on public health in the county. Staff come together and collaborate if we have to do an exercise or participate in a response or real-world event such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Is there a particularly rewarding experience you’d like to share?

Conducting and evaluating a yearly drill and/or exercise is a rewarding experience. This involves a lot of planning, collaboration and logistics with health department staff and county partners. The practice, experience and learned skills prepared us to deal with issues during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our department worked very hard during that time on the response including assisting the county in re-opening, conducting county-wide Point of Dispensing (PODs) and providing over 25,000 COVID-19 vaccines.

What does your day-to-day work look like?

My work varies and is driven by program and/or departmental tasks and deadlines. For example, completing New York State Department of Health preparedness grant deliverables, writing required planning documents and/or reports, working on Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) volunteer issues, participating in meetings and trainings, and completing surveys.

What do you wish the public knew about your job?

After 9-11, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention allocated emergency preparedness grant funds to the New York State Department of Health, which then oversees/manages the monies that are provided to the counties. Locally, this program is three-pronged: Public Health Emergency Preparedness, the Cities Readiness Initiative and Medical Reserve Corps (MRC), which is a volunteer program.  Much work goes on behind the scenes to accomplish the state and federal mandates and complete the required grant deliverables by carrying out specific and measurable objectives. This assures keeping emergency preparedness on the forefront as a program to impact and safeguard public health.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

When facing difficulties, I always remember what my wise graduate school instructor told me: “This too shall pass.”

What have been some of the most important lessons you’ve learned throughout your career?

Be conscientious, be persistent, be courageous and be prepared.

This year’s theme for National Preparedness Month is “Start a Conversation.” Talking about and planning for emergencies can be difficult, but finding the time to make an emergency plan is very important. Being prepared before an emergency happens will help to make sure that everyone knows what they need to do, and that you have all the supplies you need. The national preparedness campaign Ready.gov has resources available to help families get started with their preparedness planning. Some topics covered include familiarizing yourself with the types of emergencies that may happen in Putnam, reminders to learn evacuation routes, a list of items that should be included in your kit, and even more.

Another part of the Public Health Emergency Preparedness program at the health department is the Putnam County Medical Reserve Corps (MRC). This is a volunteer organization that helps support the health department in many ways. Several MRC volunteers are Emergency Preparedness Ambassadors, ready to share their knowledge and enthusiasm about preparedness with other groups. If you’re interested in becoming an MRC volunteer, visit putnamcountyny.gov/mrc.