Disaster Health Planning and Preparedness - Case Study Example

Disaster Health Planning and Preparedness Name: Institution: Professor: Disaster Health Planning and Preparedness Activity One 29th August, 2014 Letter of involvement Community Disaster Plan To the Chief Executive Officer Local Hospital Ref: Involvement in the Development of a Community Disaster Plan Health and medical planning is considered as an aspect of disaster planning. Therefore there is need for a medical form of collaboration in disaster planning and management. In this respect we wish to invite you to the involvement of the development of community disaster plan as the chief executive in the local hospital as the representative of the health and medical sector. The purpose of the meeting will involve the process of planning that will emphasis on defining the roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders in terms of community disaster planning and preparedness. Public health is considered as an essential aspect in terms of disaster planning and managing. This is due to the fact that public health plays an important role of leadership in policy planning in order to ensure that the communities they work in are prioritized and various solutions sought to both their health and social problems. Public health professionals act as experts in disaster planning and management as disaster preparedness and response is an essential element of public health sector. Therefore due to these important roles that the public health plays in disaster planning and management your presence and involvement in the noble endeavor will provide a significant incentive to the general community (EMA, 2011). Your participation and involvement in the development of a disaster plan for the community will be highly appreciates. Thanking you in advance. Yours Faithfully Community Disaster Plan Manager Various barriers may be experienced within the process of development of a disaster plan for a health service. These barriers include but not limited to communication barrier whereby the channel that is used in the process of communication may not be effective among all the stakeholders in the disaster planning. In order to overcome the barrier there is need for some form of education that aims at addressing communication as an impediment in the disaster management process. Another impediment in the disaster planning involves the aspect of political leadership. Politics plays an essential role in the process of disaster planning. In order to overcome this barrier the leadership aspect should be addressed through the political forum that discuss such issues as development of disaster plan. Furthermore the local community may be unwilling to adopt the development of a health services disaster plan within the context of the community. To overcome this barrier the community should be taught on the importance of the development of a health service disaster plan that would be beneficial to the entire community. Another impediment involves the assumptions that the development of a long term disaster plan does not work in cases of emergencies. To overcome this there is need to educate the general public that it is through a disaster plan the community will be able to be fully prepared in cases of the occurrence of disasters or unpredictable form of events (Abrahams, 2001). The process of planning should engage all the stakeholders through the demonstration of their commitment so as to offer impact to the plan. Hence the planning should emphasize on definition of roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders involved in the planning process. Planning should therefore encompass the entire levels of the community involved in the development of disaster plan. The community plays an important role in the identification of the local form of risk. Hence the community as the key stakeholders plays a role of ensuring that the health disaster replicates the potential recovery effort with the utilization of local means (Greenwood & Mackie 2009). According to Emergency Management Australia (2008) disaster planning implementation involves the various actions and interactions together with associations that will assist in the response and recovery procedure. Therefore planning is considered as a continuous process in the disaster planning and management. There are various keys to effective disaster plan implementation. These key factors include; communication. Within the process of implementation of a plan communication forms an important aspect as it allows for effectiveness of the plan implementation. In cases of barriers of communication effort should be made to attain an efficient means of communication. Logistics and supply is another key aspect of implementation of the disaster plan. There is need to be aware of the available resources for the implementation of the disaster plan. If the funds are not available more should be done to acquire the necessary funds for the implementation. In addition the establishment of a proper form of relationship between all the stakeholders involved is important in disaster response during the implementation phase. Exercising and testing of the plan is essential in the implementation level due to the fact that it allows for testing of effectiveness of the plan expectations and the ability of all the stakeholders to work together as a team. In addition, in the implementation phase reviews should be carried out continuously so as to ensure that there is adequacy in terms of personnel and financial assistance (EMA, 2008) The role of government in disaster planning and management is very critical. The process of disaster planning relies on the government in terms of resources, leadership and direction. The main role of the government is regarded as provision of services and making of policies. Hence the government is tasked with the responsibility of establishing a policy within the legal framework involving the identification and mitigation of risks. The government is also essential in the coordination and management of a disaster response system through the process of funding and resourcing. The government is considered to have the necessary resources that are needed in the procedure of facilitation of planning in relation to disaster preparedness. For accountability purposes the government need to keep the general public informed in relation to disaster management and coordination through identification of various roles and responsibilities. In addition, the government has the role of management of politics and the process of monitoring and evaluation of disaster planning and management. Politics of a particular community play an essential role in terms of the decision making process and the exercise of authority of the government through the channel of politics. Hence the aspect of politics as an essential element in the role of government is fundamental to disaster management structures. Issues of effectiveness are generally associated with politics in disaster management systems. Therefore the role of the government should be effective in terms of dealing with disasters through setting of national standards and provision of proper coordination training standard (FitzGerald et al. 2009). Activity Two Emergency Medical systems are considered as important in stages of disaster management process. Hence the Emergency Health system involves a description of a range of health services that is tasked for the provision of instant medical service for individuals with severe harm or illness. Within the context of Australia emergency services are generally comprises of various levels such as first aid, primary care level of health services and specialty care. Emergency management Australia (EMA) is considered as an important agency in Australia that aims at coordinating and planning in case of occurrence of a disaster or pandemic. EMA therefore undertakes reception operations at various reception points in the context of Australia. There is also the existence of an emergency department that aims at assisting individuals in case of disasters. The emergence department plan offers various solutions for the transportation and health services to causalities in disaster management process (EMA, 2008). There are various strategies that ensure health system preparedness. These strategies are mainly in terms of staff, equipment, buildings and consumables. In terms of staff the health or volunteer staff in disaster management should be adequately trained on various aspects of adversity planning and management. This will ensure that the staff is able to handle the victims in an appropriate manner in cases of occurrence of a disaster. Resources form an essential aspect in planning and management of disaster. Resources in this case involve the equipment to be use in adequately containing the adversity. The equipment is therefore in terms of infrastructure, health services, psychosocial services, social services among others. Within the context of Australia the public law asserts that every building must be fitted with health equipment that may be detrimental in fighting the occurrence of an adversity for instance fire. Buildings should therefore be designed in such a way that they offer safety and protection to the users and occupants. This is also applicable in the process of constructions whereby various health concerns should be followed for protection purposes. In relation to consumables it is a health strategy that they handled with great care so as to avert the occurrence of a disaster. Proper infrastructure should also be put in place as a health strategy against any form of consumables (Barry, 2009). Activity Three Mass casualty incidents are considered to take a variety of forms. Such forms may include transportation system, collapsing or burning of buildings among other forms. A case study in relation to mass casualty involves the burn disaster in Australia. These disasters mainly involve a large proportion of individuals being affected in one way or the other. Due to the magnitude of these types of disasters there is need for an approach that will effectively deal and contain the occurrence of such a disaster. Generally the occurrence of a disaster causes major disruptions within the normal functioning of the society as it threatens human life while causing both material and environmental losses to the community. With the occurrence of such mass casualty burn epidemic in Australia various phases such as situation analysis need to be conducted. This is considered important as it helps in defining the role of health care facility in the society and the risks that can be expected in the society. The triggering plan is also regarded as an essential phase as it is aimed at addressing the alarm and its processing, operational areas phase further involves planning how the burn disaster will be management. In Australia this was mainly done through setting up an emergency department, management of fatalities, the key treatment areas and family and media centres for source of information. Another phase involves the support and operational areas whereby essential supplies are provided and security. This is whereby relocation and evacuation activities take place. Community relations preparedness phase is mainly tasked with training of staff, validation of the plan (Abrahams, 2001). In this era of terrorism there is an increased level of trafficking of nuclear material. These materials are considered as either biological or chemical agent. Chemical warfare agent poses a great ingredient of a major disaster therefore the need for public awareness in relation to such chemical war agents. Terrorism in the modern times is generally described as deliberate violent acts with intent of causing and fear so as to achieve a political, religious or ideological form of objectives. According to Australian Government Department of Defense (2003) terrorism acts involves the use of weapons of mass destruction in inflicting damage. These weapons cause mass casualty and death for instance the use of chemical or biological agents. For the purposes of counteracting terrorism activities there is need for a public awareness for a successful approach. Public awareness is considered as a form of preparedness in the sense that the public will be aware of terrorism activities and how to respond in such situations. Therefore public preparedness and efforts through the health agents and other primary caregivers is essential in detecting and responding to biological or chemical form of terrorism. Public awareness is important in the process of identification and controlling of occurrence of disasters due to terrorism activities (AGDD, 2003). Big day out concerts involves mass crowds that in most cases increase the public risks of the community. Therefore the risks of such an event are further related to the size and the nature of the crowd at the gathering. Unexpected large turnout numbers often result into inadequacy of preparedness and lack of supplies. There are several risk factors that may be associated with such an event. In most cases when a large number of individuals gather at the same place there is tendency of health risks involved. The health exposures in this case will be associated with the risk of movement of people from one place to another. The nature of infrastructure within the day out concerts will also play an important role in terms of the risk factors associated with the gathering. Within such an event there is need for planning in terms of assessing the risk factors associated with the nature of the gathering so as to avoid the occurrence of various forms of disasters. Hence in such an event it is essential to ensure that there is adequate form of planning, organization and preparation of the event in order to minimize the risks involved. Through the process of planning the health and safety of the participants will be protected. Thus, the process of planning crowd events is considered as of no difference to that of health disaster response system. Organizers of such events are tasked with the responsibility of involving all the major stakeholders in the process of identification of risk factors and the amount of resources to be engaged in such an event (EMA, 1999). Swine flu is considered as a respiratory disease of pigs that is caused by H1N1 viral form of influenza. Swine flu infections have been reported on human in countries such as the United States. These infections have been on the rise in many countries. However, individuals are responsible in reducing their personal risk of the outbreak of swine flu. The simple measure in reducing the risk of infection include personal hygiene of washing hands, covering of mouth during sneezing general form of cleanliness and avoiding close contact with infected individuals. Hence there are several lessons learnt from the swine flu pandemic (Fleming, 2005). The pandemic can is preventable through various measures and therefore the need for individuals to engage in the process of preventing the infection of the pandemic. Disaster preparedness and planning is important in this aspect through the process of screening individuals in order to avoid further infections among individuals. In addition, another lesson learnt involves the fact that some pandemics are preventable through the use of human efforts and activities such as personal hygiene. Identification of the pandemic needs to be made critically through diagnosis and them an impact of the pandemic in terms of social and economic aspect needs to be made in the society. It is also important for the community to be aware of the nature of swine flu as a pandemic in the society (Barry, 2009). Activity Four A resilient community in terms of disaster planning and management is considered as a community that has the existence of a robust social networks and health structures that is aimed at supporting recovery after the occurrence of an adversity. In simple terms community resilience is considered as the capability of a particular community to endure and recover from various adversity or forms of disasters. Hence such a community is prepared to engage in a deliberate form of action through the use of physical, social and psychological form of resources. The use of these resources is aimed at shielding the community from the negative impacts of the incident while protecting their health. The social aspect of connectedness is essential to a resilient community’s capability of pooling their resources, engage in communication with residents and involve all the stakeholders in planning for infrastructure and human recovery process. Hence community resilience involves an ongoing process in regards to development of capacity of the community to protect its vulnerabilities. According to Queensland Health (2008) resilient community uses knowledge and skills from a previous response for the purpose of strengthening the community’s capability to withstand the expected health occurrence. The key components of a resilient community impacts on the community’s vulnerability to disaster and the adaptive measures in the recovery process. These key components include the physical and psychological health of a particular population, social and economic components to counteract the impacts of the disaster, attitudes in relation to self-reliance, level of social integration of both governmental and non-governmental organizations in the process of planning, response and recovery and the social aspect of connectedness of the particular community members (Queensland Health, 2008). The determination of resilience in the community is mainly done after the occurrence of a disaster. Therefore various aspects such as identification, developing and enhancement of plans together with resources that are essential for the process of mitigating vulnerabilities, lessening negative health impacts are regarded as strategies that are aimed at promoting community resilience. Other factors or activities that are aimed at the process of promoting community resilience include; the process of strengthening both the social and cultural networks that is aimed at incorporating all stakeholders in disaster preparedness and response action. In addition an important strategy in promoting community resilience involves integration of various abilities in the process of disaster planning. Thus, such aspects such as economic form of development, community competency, information and communication while engaging in the process of involving all the stakeholders in the planning process of all the activities is an important form of approach. Furthermore it is important that the development of communications tools to cater for the cultural diversity so as to create a resilience community. In order to promote resilience a community should also engage in addressing the psychological health so as to foster an adaptive coping response in cases of adversity (Greenwood & Mackie 2009). The deployment of Foreign Field Hospitals in cases of the occurrence of disasters forms an important basis for coping and dealing with the disaster. This is due to the fact that foreign field hospitals consist of dedicated specialists who work with a high degree of IT assistance and possess an ultimate authority. In addition through the use of foreign field hospitals decisions in regards to whether to send in any form of assistance are generally made with a careful mode of consideration. According to Salvador and Salvador (2003) with the large number of causalities being experienced in disasters with the destruction of the necessary form of infrastructure the foreign field hospitals and doctors play a significant role. In the occurrence of disaster of pandemic The Red Cross plays a substantial role in the management of the crisis (Salvador & Salvador 2003). References Barry, J. (2009). Observations on past influenza pandemics. Disaster medicine and public health preparedness, S 95-99. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19786875. Emergency Management Australia. (2011). Disaster Health Handbook 1. Chapter 3: Planning. Retrieved from http://www.em.gov.au/Documents/AEMHS%201%20Disaster%20Health.PDF. Abrahams.J. (2001). Disaster management in Australia: The national emergency management system. Emergency Medicine 13, 165-173. Greenwood J. & Mackie I. (2009). Factors for consideration in developing a plan to cope with mass burn casualties. ANZ Journal of Surgery, 79(9); 581-583. Emergency Management Australia ( 2008). Australian Government Disaster Response Plan. FitzGerald G et al. (2009). Queensland Emergency Medical System: A structural and organisation model for the emergency medical system in Australia, Emergency Medicine Australasia, 21(6), 510-514. doi: 10.1111/j.1742-6723.2009.01244.x (Focus on the section on the Queensland Emergency Medical System). Queensland Health (2008). Queensland Health Disaster Plan: A functional plan of the State Disaster Management Plan. Emergency Management Australia (1999). Safe and Healthy mass gatherings. Retrieved from http://www.health.sa.gov.au/pehs/publications/ema-mass-gatherings-manual.pdf. Fleming D. (2005). Influenza Pandemics and Avian Flu, British Medical Journal, 331, (1182). Australian Government Department of Defence. Chemical Warfare Agent Sea Dumping Off Australia. Revised. Commonwealth of Australia 2003. Salvador, S & Salvador, E. (2003). WHO-PAHO Guidelines for the Use of Foreign Field Hospitals in the Aftermath of Sudden –Impact Disasters. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/hac/techguidance/pht/FieldHospitalsFolleto.pdf Read More