Tribal

For over a decade, the USA Center has partnered with the South Dakota Department of Health to promote and foster tribal public health preparedness within the Sioux Nation. We have facilitated community engagement, identified and prioritized tribal preparedness issues, provided technical assistance and training to address issues and gaps in preparedness, developed mitigation planning and conducted tabletop exercises to evaluate emergency operations planning. Continuity of Operations Planning (COOP), risk communication, and infection prevention are a few examples of the topical areas in which we have provided technical assistance.

With funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, we were also able to assist Cheyenne River Sioux tribal leadership in identifying strategies for implementation of broader public health prevention programs on the reservation.

The center’s expertise in tribal preparedness in South Dakota has led to work with the three federally recognized tribes in Texas, facilitating closer collaboration between the Texas Department of State Health Services and the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe, Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Tribe and Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas.

Contact us for consultation on tribal preparedness issues.

L-R: Josh Garcia, Emergency Management Coordinator, Ysleta del Sur Pueblo; Lisette Osborne, Department of State Health Services, Center for Health Emergency Preparedness and Response; Brandy Sebesta, USA Center for Rural Public Health Preparedness; Luis Valenzuela, Department of State Health Services, Center for Health Emergency Preparedness and Response; Kay Carpender, USA Center for Rural Public Health Preparedness