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Medical Health Operational Area Coordinator (MHOAC)

Emergency Medical Services

Divisions / Emergency Medical Services / Health Emergency Preparedness / Medical Health Operational Area Coordinator (MHOAC)

The Medical Health Operational Area Coordinator (MHOAC) Program coordinates medical and health resources during emergencies and disasters in San Mateo County. It connects EMS, public health, environmental health, behavioral health, hospitals, healthcare organizations, fire agencies, emergency management and other response partners.

About the MHOAC Program

The Program is authorized by California Health and Safety Code section 1797.153. The MHOAC serves as the Operational Area’s primary coordination point for medical and health emergencies and may request or provide mutual aid through regional and statewide systems.

Emergency Operations

The MHOAC Program maintains 24-hour on-call coverage. During the initial phase of an incident, it operates through the EMS Duty Officer/MHOAC On-Call. When the County Health Department Operations Center (Health DOC) is activated, MHOAC responsibilities may be assigned across multiple Health DOC positions. The MHOAC may also serve at the County Emergency Operations Center as the Medical Health Branch Director.

Responsibilities

The MHOAC Program coordinates:

  • Immediate medical and health needs assessments
  • Hospitals, healthcare providers, EMS agencies and patient distribution
  • Medical personnel, equipment, supplies, transportation and mutual aid
  • Temporary treatment sites and other emergency-care operations
  • Public-health surveillance and communicable-disease control
  • Behavioral-health services and public information
  • Food, drinking water, hazardous-material, waste and vector-control concerns

These responsibilities support preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation across the County’s medical, healthcare, public-health, behavioral-health and environmental-health systems.

MHOAC Functions

State law requires the Operational Area’s medical and health disaster plans, policies and procedures to address:

  1. Assessment of immediate medical needs
  2. Coordination of disaster medical and health resources
  3. Coordination of patient distribution and medical evaluations
  4. Coordination with inpatient and emergency-care providers
  5. Coordination of out-of-hospital medical-care providers
  6. Coordination and integration with fire-agency personnel, resources and emergency prehospital medical services
  7. Coordination of non-fire-based prehospital EMS providers
  8. Coordination of temporary field-treatment sites
  9. Health surveillance and epidemiological analysis of community health status
  10. Assurance of food safety
  11. Management of exposure to hazardous agents
  12. Provision or coordination of mental-health services
  13. Provision of medical and health public information and protective-action recommendations
  14. Provision or coordination of vector-control services
  15. Assurance of drinking-water safety
  16. Assurance of the safe management of liquid, solid and hazardous waste
  17. Investigation and control of communicable disease

Contacting the MHOAC

Authorized first responders and representatives of medical or health organizations should contact the MHOAC for mass-casualty incidents, significant threats to the healthcare or public-health system, resource shortages, patient-distribution concerns or medical and health mutual-aid requests.

Authorized partners should refer to the EMS Duty Officer/MHOAC contact listed under System Contacts in ReddiNet. If the on-call representative cannot be reached, call San Mateo County Public Safety Communications at 650-363-4905 and request the EMS Duty Officer/MHOAC On-Call.

 

For an immediate or life-threatening emergency, call 9-1-1.