Office of Preparedness and Response (OPR)

Section 1125.352  Office of Preparedness and Response (OPR) a)         The Office of Preparedness and Response (OPR) provides emergency response policy making, planning, training, exercise, and incident management and evaluation services for the Department's programs.  OPR coordinates the public health and medical technical services and resources that Illinois provides during a disaster through the Public Health Emergency Operations Center (PHEOC) and the State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC).  Working with other state and federal agencies, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), OPR can offer certain federal and State emergency medical countermeasures for the public and responders through Local Health Departments (LHDs) and hospitals.  OPR also provides financial and technical resources to LHDs, hospitals, and emergency medical services, and regulates emergency medical services and specific hospital programs. b)         OPR is also responsible for administering the CDC Public Health Emergency Program (PHEP) and the ASPR Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP).  Through these two cooperative agreements, OPR provides preparedness funding to 95 LHDs and 10 Regional Health Care Coalitions (RHCCs) based across the State.  OPR also has regional staff that work closely with LHDs and RHCCs on preparedness initiatives and support counties when response resources are needed at the local level. Funding is also provided to the Illinois Medical Emergency Response Team (IMERT).  IMERT is a not-for-profit organization that has been providing the State with a volunteer medical team for over 20 years.  OPR also administers the Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMSC) program.  EMSC funding supports the State in implementing pediatric emergency care initiatives, adopting pediatric emergency care regulations, and developing a statewide pediatric infrastructure. c)         OPR is composed of the Division of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Highway Safety, Division of Disaster Planning and Readiness, and the Division of Grants and Financial Management. d)         Information related to OPR is available at https://dph.illinois.gov/topics-services/emergency-preparedness-response.html.