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This message is being sent to infection preventionists, local public health department staff, local health department nurses, local public health officers, and Tribal health directors.
New Contact Number for Public Health Emergency On-Call Services
The Department of Health Service (DHS), Division of Public Health (DPH) maintains 24/7 technical support services to provide advice and assistance to public health partners such as health care providers, local and Tribal health departments (LTHDs), laboratories, government agencies, and emergency responders in response to public health emergencies. The on-call services are staffed by subject matter experts across multiple DPH offices capable of providing support in the following areas:
- Chemical incidents, spills, or natural disasters
- Emergency human services
- Radiological or nuclear incidents, and notification of immediately reportable events
- Communicable disease outbreaks, Category I notifiable disease incidents, communicable disease testing and treatment questions/requests
During the past year DHS transitioned to a 24/7 on call answering service that triages emergency calls for all Wisconsin agencies using one phone number (800) 943-0003 with different options or extensions for each agency, including DHS, Department of Natural Resources (DNR), and Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP). Until recently, the previous DHS 24/7 on-call number of 608-258-0099 was being re-routed to the new answering service as DHS worked to update documents, online resources, and our partners. Challenges to maintaining the use and re-routing of the old number has prompted DHS to reach out to health care and public health partners to encourage them to update their protocols for obtaining urgent DHS on call consultation.
To contact the Bureau of Communicable Diseases (BCD) for urgent matters during non-business hours or reach the other subject matter experts in the support areas listed above, please call the DHS 24/7 on-call services number (800) 943-0003 (option 4). A trained call taker will collect information regarding your incident and connect you with the appropriate on call staff member.
To contact BCD during routine business hours (8 a.m.–4 p.m.), please use their main number 608-267-9003.
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