To stay prepared for another pandemic — or any mass casualty event — Hidalgo County revamped their plans to handle emergencies. 

The new plan — which will guide the county through the next five years — is being nationally recognized.

Eduardo “Eddie” Olivarez, the head of the Hidalgo County Health & Human Services Department, says the county's partnerships with other local agencies and inclusivity is what makes it unique. It also got them accreditation with the National Association of County and City Health Officials.

Among the county’s partnerships is working with school district nurses to provide vaccines, and training members of the community emergency response team to work with people with disabilities.

Olivarez says they've also updated the plan to better a future pandemic, should it ever come.

“Our public health lab, we didn't have that during the pandemic. We have that now so we're able to coordinate a lot more testing and assessments quicker, “Olivarez said. “So we'll have that fully operational hopefully by the end of this year."

The plan will need to be resubmitted for accreditation in five years. 

Watch the video above for the full story.