The Emergency Management Department at Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC) was created in 2003 to help the Alaska Tribal Health System (ATHS) prepare for disasters and emergencies. We provide training, support, and coordination for emergencies and disasters. The Department is funded by generous grants from the Centers for Disease Control through the Alaska Division of Health and Social Services. Our department is located in the ANTHC Division of Community Health Services, 7033 East Tudor Road in Anchorage.

Alaska is vulnerable to a broad variety of hazards including earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, avalanches, storms, wildfires, winter storms, and epidemics. Man-made events include transportation accidents, fires, hazardous materials release, civil disturbances, and terrorist attacks.

The Alaska Tribal Health System

ATHS provides health care and other services to over 135,000 Alaska Native beneficiaries. In many areas of the state ATHS provides the only health care in the region and would provide care to all Alaskans in an emergency. Our resources include the Regional Service Support Center (RSSC), Information Technology (IT), the Division of Environmental Health (DEHE) and Engineering, and the Alaska Native Medical Center (ANMC). Should an emergency occur, we can coordinate distribution of supplies throughout the tribal health system, communication, damage assessment, and access to the only Level II Trauma center in Alaska at ANMC.

Community and Community Clinic Emergency Plan Development

A survey conducted by the ANTHC Emergency Management Department in 2004 indicated that 60 percent of tribal clinics had an emergency plan and 49 percent of tribal communities had an emergency plan. To improve these numbers the ANTHC Emergency Management Department developed model plans that communities and clinics can use to develop their own plans. Other model plans have been developed. These include a guide for emergency child care center operations during disasters and emergencies, a guide for enhanced communicable disease surveillance during an epidemic and a guide for conducting a hazard vulnerability study. These are available on this website (click on links shown at right).

Emergency Preparedness Workshops

Much of the collaboration and partnership successes that have been achieved are the result of emergency preparedness workshops held across the state. Upon request of the community, region or organization, a team composed of ANTHC, state agency personnel and others can offer two- to three-day workshops on location. Workshops can focus on development of plans for organization and community preparedness, mass casualty, floods, pandemic flu, and more. To date, more than 200 communities have participated in these workshops. The ANTHC Emergency Preparedness Department is available to help communities and health care entities develop and improve their emergency response capabilities.

Contact Information

Please feel free to call Emergency Preparedness at (907) 729-3653 for any further details.