Oklahoma exceeds the national average in a set of health rankings.
Scott Sproat is the state’s director of emergency preparedness and response. He said these rankings are different from overall health rankings.
"It really looks at a very wide range of different factors or indicators, all of which may have some bearing on the state's ability to respond to an emergency situation impacting the public's health," Sproat said.
Oklahoma scored 7.5 on the 10-point National Health Security Preparedness Index. The average is 7.4, and the best score is 8.2.
Oklahoma’s best performance is in incident management, especially in coordinating several agencies’ response to a public health emergency.
"Which is very critical, because obviously in a public health crisis, you've not only got the health departments involved, but the overall health care systems as well," Sproat said.
The state also scored well when it comes to health surveillance and lab testing; however, there’s work to be done when it comes to mental and behavioral health care.
"Also, looking at some of the work we're doing with at-risk or vulnerable populations to ensure that we're trying to maximize everything that we have available to take care of individuals with some additional needs during emergencies," Sproat said.
For example, Oklahoma has no requirements for childcare providers to perform emergency drills or have plans in place.
