Community Emergency Preparedness and Response Paper

M3: Discuss health, safety or security concerns arising from a specific incident or emergency in a health or social care setting. In  a  health  and  social  care  setting  such  as  a hospital there are many incidents and emergencies that can  occur,  as  I  have  already  discussed  in  my  P4.  One  emergency  I  have  chosen  to  discuss  in further  detail is in the case of a ‘fire’, and the health, safety and security concerns that could arise in this situation. In  the  case  of  a  fire,  standard  procedures  and  priorities  include  the  evacuation  of  all  individuals inside  the  building,  i.e. the hospital. There are many concerns that

The Mentor Fire Department has not been able to meet the goals of annual pre-fire planning. By not meeting these goals we could be placing firefighters at risk because they may not have the information necessary to safely, efficiently and effectively handle the fire emergency presented. The issues seem to affect each emergency incident differently. If the incident commander had knowledge of the building and how to use the preplan information that might be available, the situation was handled safely, efficiently and effectively. If the incident commander lacked knowledge of the building, and did not know how to acquire any preplan information, the incident was handled, but might not have been handled as safely, efficiently and effectively as possible.

The future of Emergency Managers (EM) will be greatly enhanced by seeing more and more people obtaining their bachelors degrees in this field. This is credited to more colleges offering the program, and seeing the need for it in todays ever changeling, and changing environment. Having a BA in EM could also include a chance for promotions, and higher salaries.

In the school setting, open communication would work by having the staff members equipped with radios, walkie talkies, and or headsets, so contacting people on site and outside by making it easier for someone to get help faster and much quicker. Also a part of the communication response would be special signals or codes, this is another important tool that can be used in crisis response plans. By the school staff utilizing this technique the chain of command would let the staff and students know that everything is fine and they could go back to work as

As a health care professional, It is my responsibility to keep a very clean and safe facility at all times. The first step to making sure we are never in violation is making sure everyone is following the OSHA guidelines. Making sure to handle hazardous medical waste properly. I would also make sure my employees know what to do at all times in case of an emergency situation. During down time, I would have a requirement for every employee to just take a moment. To look around and see how they can improve the work environment.I would also make sure my patients are happy at all times.

Disasters of varying degree, natural or manmade, can happen at any time in any area. It is imperative that the necessary emergency preparedness plans are in place and responders are properly trained. While disasters can take on a variety of forms, the plan should be inclusive of all possible threats in the surrounding areas. Public safety and healthcare providers must work together to ensure that they have a cohesive plan of action. They must plan how resources will be delegated as soon as an emergency is announced. Disasters are inevitable but planning reduces panic and confusion, which allows response personnel to react accordingly.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) offers a program called the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), which provides training to citizens to respond to disasters, providing safe and effective assistance to professional emergency services (FEMA, 2016). The training is conducted over a 7-week span covering topics including disaster preparedness, disaster fire suppression, disaster medical operations, light search and rescue operations, as well as disaster scenarios. The mission of the CERT program is readiness when disaster strikes, moreover, it focuses on safety for everyone including the rescuer.

The focus of this plan is the emergency preparedness plan; however, there other major deliverables of this project that are necessary to build a successful emergency preparedness plan. Those deliverables include the following:

As global climate continues to change, emergency managers must prepare communities around the world for frequent catastrophic focusing events. Specific disasters vary from location to location; consequently, many emergency preparedness plans in many jurisdictions are ineffective. As a result, government officials and emergency managers under evaluate and wrongly assess areas of vulnerability. I present some of the special needs groups that emergency managers can include in vulnerability assessments. Lastly, I explain how emergency managers can collect resources to create concrete assessments for responding effectively to vulnerable populations before and after disasters.

This paper examines a case study about the transfer of knowledge between preparedness and emergency response as conducted by Kerstin Erikkson of Lund, Sweden University. Erikkson (2009) conducted the case study by analyzing emergency response following Gudrun, a storm with hurricane force wind gusts that struck the South of Sweden in January 2005. This disaster caused significant damage to the region 's critical infrastructure, such as roadways, railways, telecommunications systems, and electrical power supply. The storm also resulted in power outages for roughly three-quarters of a

Under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), Local Emergency Planning Committees (LEPCs) must develop an emergency response plan, review the plan at least annually, and provide information about chemicals in the community to citizens. Plans are developed by LEPCs with stakeholder participation. There is one LEPC for each of the more than 3,000 designated local emergency planning districts. The LEPC membership must include elected state and local officials, police, fire, civil defense, and public health professionals, environment, transportation, and hospital officials, facility representatives, representatives from community groups and the media.

Disaster preparedness and response by healthcare professionals is an ongoing process. Either natural disasters or man-made catastrophes, emergency responders and healthcare services are the first to handle life threatening cases and ensure the safety of people.

Disasters of any type affect the entire community and more importantly the lives of people in that community. Among those living in the community the vulnerable populations, particularly the older adults, experience the effects of disaster disproportionately given their health conditions, illness states due to chronic diseases and other special needs.

Protecting the public’s health historically has been a state and local responsibility. However, the growing threat of bioterrorism has highlighted the importance of a strong public health infrastructure to the nation’s homeland security and has focused increased attention on the preparedness of the public health system (Frist, 2011). Since the 2001 anthrax attacks Congress has passed new legislation to increase the strength of the nation’s public health system thus the funding has also rapidly increased to meet the potential demand. There is an ongoing debate however, as to what level of contribution local, state, and federal agency’s feel is an appropriate level of ongoing public health investments.

The case study describes initiatives for emergency and disaster planning, education and training programs, development of logistical solutions by the Yale New Haven Center for Emergency Preparedness and Disaster response. Established in 2002 by the Yale New Haven Health System, the center’s core mission is the development and deliverance of healthcare services that ensure proper healthcare capacity and coordinated response for emergencies and disasters. Yale New Health System’s five objectives include but are not limited to: identification of emergency preparedness; effective response to emergencies and disasters; providing leadership to healthcare delivery