ECHO (Emergency and Community Health Outreach) is a collaborative that includes public health and safety agencies across Minnesota, ethnic advisory organizations and non-profit groups such as the American Red Cross (Twin Cities Chapter).

It is spearheaded by Saint Paul-Ramsey County Public Health, Hennepin County Public Health Protection, the Minnesota Department of Health and other agencies charged with public health emergency preparedness.

ECHO provides health and safety information in multiple languages by fax, phone, on television and on the web during emergency and non-emergency times to people with limited English language skills.

Organizations charged with public health and emergency preparedness created ECHO in 2004. They saw that new systems were needed to help all Minnesotans stay safe and healthy as hundreds of thousands of immigrants and refugees from vastly different cultures and climates made this state home. These new residents need information on specific health and safety issues that occur here. Plus, better methods were needed to reach limited-English speakers in a statewide emergency such as the outbreak of a highly contagious disease like SARS, or a man-made attack such as a bomb explosion.

ECHO helps to bridge the gap while Minnesota’s newest residents learn English as a second language. It benefits all Minnesotans because when a serious disease outbreak happens, no one can be fully protected unless everyone is first fully informed. In an emergency, the goal of ECHO is to make sure that no Minnesotans are left out because of barriers of language or culture.