Founded in 2010, the ESF-8 Planning and Response Network provides the training and experience necessary for students in the public health and medical fields to support incident specific, unified planning and response operations at the local, state, federal, international levels. 


One of the service-learning opportunities that the Network provides students is participation in the Virtual Medical Operation Center (VMOC). Contributors, located in a variety of geographic locations around the country, gather information from various government and non-governmental organizations, situation reports, media reports, and a variety of other information sources.  They quickly verify and synchronizes the information and produces a product that provides a common operating picture and real-time information for federal, state, local, and international response organizations.