Client Hampden County Health Coalition (HCHC)
Practice Area Emergency Preparedness
The Hampden County Health Coalition (HCHC) serves as a vital resource for emergency preparedness across Hampden County, Massachusetts. The coalition connects public health departments with the regional health and medical coordinating coalition. As a part of the broader regional emergency preparedness fabric, the coalition integrates its plans and exercises with municipal emergency managers, hospitals, EMS, and other regional stakeholders from the 19 municipalities HCHC serves.
Serving more than 400,000 residents across both urban and rural areas, HCHC focuses on enhancing regional readiness and strengthening cooperation. Many member towns operate with limited public health staff—often fewer than one full-time equivalent—making independent emergency planning difficult. Consequently, these communities rely on HCHC for shared regional resources, mutual aid coordination, and planning support to ensure consistent preparedness and effective disaster response.
“I did not realize the number of responsibilities our public health agent has during an emergency.”
-A Participating Fire Chief
After establishing a shared planning framework with BME Strategies the previous year, HCHC faced the critical challenge of translating theoretical plans into operational action. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s (MDPH) requirement for tabletop exercises created an ideal opportunity to address that need in a meaningful way. The requirement included engaging emergency management, police, fire, and other partners. To create an effective exercise, the scenario had to be realistic and broadly applicable to all agencies, including those outside of public health.
Rather than treating the exercise as a box-checking compliance activity, the coalition saw an opportunity to meaningfully break down planning silos. By bringing outside partners together in a structured, realistic scenario, coalition members could:
The results of the exercise would be shared with MDPH and shape future deliverables. For the smaller communities, this exercise was a critical opportunity to highlight their needs and receive support in future years.
The exercise successfully surfaced critical gaps in staffing availability and cross-departmental support during prolonged emergencies. By engaging over 50 participants from 15 municipalities, the initiative significantly improved awareness of public health’s role among public safety leaders. BME delivered 15 community-specific after-action reports and a regional summary that identified mass care as a top priority, providing HCHC with a clear, actionable roadmap for future investment.
What We Delivered: