Responders include the office of emergency management, law enforcement agencies, fire and rescue, the health department and Frederick Memorial Hospital.

“I think that one of the things 9/11 and other events changed is that now there’s a whole lot of relationship building with folks outside your borders,” said Jack Markey, director of Frederick County’s Office of Emergency Management.

To promote effective handling of emergencies, Mr. Markey said he helps each division understand the responsibility and terminology of others through more frequent meetings — agencies now meet monthly instead of quarterly.

The greatest change since the anthrax attacks of 2001 is agencies now have joint emergency plans, rather than acting independently, said Margo Smith, acting health officer of the Frederick County Health Department.

“That’s one of the biggest differences, that we have ongoing planning meetings on a regular basis, as opposed to waiting to see if something happens,” she said.

Ms. Smith said through their meetings, the roles of health department workers have changed.

“Public health as a first responder — that is new,” Ms. Smith said.

The health department established the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response in 2002 not only to prevent a public health emergency, but to effectively handle such a situation, said Barbara Rosvold, director of the division.

The Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response is responsible for distributing large amounts of medication during a public health emergency, she said. The division receives medication from the Strategic National Stockpile, a federally funded cache of medications and medical supplies.

In a public health emergency, the health department is also prepared to work with other agencies to set up telephone hotlines, distribute health information and counsel the community on ways to avoid becoming ill, she said.

In addition to regular meetings with other agencies, Ms. Smith said the health department maintains regular contact with county forces through walkie-talkie systems, which the Office of Emergency Management provided in 2004.

“We’d like to know even if the phone lines jammed, we can communicate,” Mr. Markey explained.

Prompted by the revisions to the county’s emergency plan, the Frederick Police Department has overhauled its plan, which is now in the approval stages, said Lt. Patrick O’Brien, commander of the planning division.

Lt. O’Brien declined to name specifics of the plan, as making details public would compromise its efficiency, he said.

He believes the regular monthly meetings between the police department, fire officials, county response systems and others have strengthened each agency’s plan.

“(Now) we have an understanding of what our roles will be — that’s half the battle,” he said. “The last thing you want to do is meet your partner at the scene of an incident.”

Frederick Memorial Hospital has improved its emergency plan in the last few years as a result of the collaborative meetings, said John Veltri, the hospital’s director of safety and security.

The hospital is now better prepared to handle a surge in patient numbers and to deploy health professionals to incident sites, he said.

Like the health department, the hospital’s communication technology has been streamlined with walkie-talkies, he said.

The hospital also works with Medical Reserve Corp, an initiative co-spearheaded by Volunteer Frederick. The MRC is composed of practicing and retired medical or health professionals who volunteer to assist during emergency situations, such as epidemics, natural disasters or terrorism acts.

Mr. Veltri said he is confident in the county’s ability to handle emergencies, largely because of the high level of communication between health and emergency management forces.

“A lot of this is people in the county are pretty lucky,” he said. “There are some incredible people out there who take this very seriously and are pretty good at it.”

While Fort Detrick officials are involved in the monthly emergency planning meetings, Mr. Veltri said he recognizes there are potential problem areas when it comes to working with the base in certain emergencies.

“My expectation of them is they would be very vital to us. But they’ve made it clear if it interferes with military issues, they can only give so much support,” he said.

Mr. Markey said the county has a mutual aid agreement with Fort Detrick, which allows county fire officials to enter the base if needed in an emergency and for Fort Detrick to respond to off-base fires.

“We’re all residents of this community. Anything that happens in the city or county near the fort, we all need to be working on it together,” Mr. Markey said.

He said the county’s challenge is to continually find ways to handle emergencies more effectively, particularly if resources are strained.

“We know we’re going to confront problems and one of the things that’s almost always true, is the larger the scale of the emergency, the less likely you’ll have the resources you need to help everybody,” Mr. Markey said.

To prepare for a large scale event that is beyond Frederick County emergency responders’ abilities, the county has entered into the National Capital Region Mutual Aid Agreement, as well as the Maryland Emergency Management Compact, he said.

The agreements establish a framework for operational plan development and coordination, he said, which includes rules of liability, workmans compensation, and command and control issues.

Most importantly, the agreement ensures Frederick County will have adequate support from outside sources if the need arises.

“Very few communities are ready to handle an emergency on their own,” Mr. Markey said. “None of us can stand alone as well as we could if our friends help us in an emergency.”