South Dakota

South Dakota
At a Glance
  • Population: 909,824
  • Local Health Departments: 1
  • Frequent Public Health Emergencies: Tornadoes, Flooding, Fires
  • Key Emergency Operations Center Activations: 2020: COVID-19 Pandemic; 2015
  • CDC PHEP Funding:
    FY 2022: $5,210,000
    FY 2021: $5,210,000
    FY 2020: $5,542,500
  • Public Health Crisis Response Funding
    Mpox 2023 funding:
    COVID-19 2021 funding: $6,174,029
    COVID-19 2020 funding: $4,567,500
PHEP-funded staff (rounded)
  • Epidemiologists: 3
  • Laboratorians: 2
  • Nurses: 1
  • Planners: 1
  • Other: 15*

*Includes IT specialists, administrative staff, statisticians, and other positions

CDC Preparedness Field Staff

1 Preparedness Field Assignee

Top Five Preparedness Investments
  1. Public Health Laboratory Testing
  2. Public Health Surveillance and Epidemiologic Investigation
  3. Medical Countermeasure Dispensing and Distribution
  4. Information Sharing
  5. Community Preparedness
Stories from the Field
South Dakota Rally
Preparing for Large Influx of Visitors during Annual Motorcycle Rally

In August, 2015, South Dakota celebrated the 75th anniversary of its Sturgis Motorcycle Rally with an estimated 734,000 attendees. At this level of attendance, hospitals and emergency medical services in the area were at risk of being far over capacity in the event of a mass casualty incident. PHEP funding allowed health department staff to lead 18 months of intense planning with partners and identify and address gaps in resources and communication. As a result, healthcare and emergency workers successfully managed a massive, multi-county incident, and the state could apply lessons learned to future rallies.