The Northern Utah Healthcare Coalition is comprised of a diverse group of professionals from six Northern Utah counties, including Cache, Rich, Box Elder, Weber, Morgan and Davis. Professionals include those from hospitals, health departments, first responders, primary care clinics and county emergency managers.Working together, they provide an extra layer of protection region-wide to the people of Northern Utah in a disaster. Sara Sinclair, of the Bear River Health Department, says the coalition not only enhances the capacity of each community, but also helps to assure protection for the people of these communities in a disaster.Sinclair says working together and making plans before a disaster allows the group to focus on coordinated, excellent medical care during an event. She says the regional coalition is working on developing an updated medical surge capacity/capability plan which will allow the members to work smoothly together in a disaster situation that requires an increase in service capacity of the county and its hospitals.The coalition has completed a flu guide titled “The Flu: A Guide to Caring for Your Family at Home.” The guide is meant to assist families to prepare to care for family members at home during a severe flu pandemic. The free publication is available at the Bear River, Weber-Morgan and Davis County health departments. For more information, contact Sinclair at 792-6500.