King County Healthcare Coalition

Area Command & ESF 8 Structure

Having a leadership and decision-making structure in place to direct and manage the healthcare system response is one of the most important aspects of managing a health emergency such as a pandemic influenza outbreak. Public Health, with support of the King County Healthcare Coalition Executive Council, EMS Medical Directors and the King Count Medical Examiner has developed a Health and Medical Area Command structure to lead the health and medical response across King County and coordinate policy decisions, medical resources and incident information during health emergencies or disasters. During such events, these leaders will participate in a policy group, called a Multi-Agency Coordinating Group (MAC Group) that will advise the Local Health Officer on decisions affecting the capacity of the local healthcare system.

Multi Agency Coordination Group (MAC Group)

A Multi-Agency Coordination Group (MAC) may be activated in conjunction with a unified or area command structure to establish overall direction and priorities for the health, medical and mortuary response across King County. When activated, the MAC Group will include the following participants:

• Local Health Officer as the authorized decision maker
• Healthcare Coalition Executive Council
• Emergency Medical System Medical Directors for King County and Seattle
• Medical Examiner

Within this group, the Healthcare Coalition Executive Council, EMS Medical Directors and the Medical Examiner will advise the Local Health Officer regarding policy level decisions, priorities, public messaging and resource allocations. The Local Health Officer will make final decisions for the MAC Group.

The role of the MAC Group is to provide structure and direction for inter-organizational decision making during emergencies. Specifically, the MAC Group, will:

• Establish policy direction for the countywide health and medical system
• Determine system-wide medical resource priorities when available resources fall well below expected demand
• Determine the extent and timing of changes to medical system practices (i.e. standards of care)
• Approve the content of public messaging regarding the health and medical response
• Coordinate with and brief elected officials and healthcare partners as needed regarding health and medical impacts, status of the response and decisions made by the MAC