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.
“The 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic and Hurricane Katrina highlighted the importance of hospitals and healthcare systems being prepared for potential threats and the consequences that occur when a community is ill-prepared” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2012).
The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) and the Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP) Cooperative Agreement, “provides funding and technical assistance to state, local, and territorial
“A disaster is an event that is a natural or man-made occurrence that can disrupt or destroy the lives of those it affects” (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2014). “Management of a disaster includes four phases; prevention, preparedness, response and recovery” (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2014). To date there have been 154 hospital-based shootings, which resulted in 235 dead or injured. (C.Catlett, 2012). The purpose of this paper is to identify emergency preparedness and response to hospital based shootings, and the role of the public health nurse in such a disaster.
To establish control of influenza pandemic it remains essential to determine the extent of a possible situation. Only sustained planning, training and exercise of contingency operations across public, private and volunteer sectors will help to reduce the potential of a catastrophic pandemic disaster (NJDHSS, 2008). With thousands of lives at risk the plan to reduce an incidence of influenza pandemic maintains stages governed by a federal and state plan. The plan includes ten NJ Situations to index an estimation of the severity of a pandemic incidence on a population and to allow better forecasting of the impact of a pandemic with recommendations on the use of mitigation intervention (NJDHSS, 2008). Several assumptions have been identified by the federal government which can additionally be assumed at the state level to include; infectious transmission from person to person from a global network, signaling an immediate pandemic possibility, 30 percent or higher incidence of illness, illness higher amongst school age children are primary
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.
Disaster preparedness is significant to the lives of the residents in the nursing home facilities. Individuals living in long-term, acute, and chronic care settings are the most vulnerable populations during an emergency. Therefore, it is important for health professionals and planners who care for residents to be prepared and knowledgeable to respond during any type of emergency. Nursing homes play an important role in the event of a disaster or health emergency. They are also important to ensure the health and safety of the residents in the facility. According to the Emergency Preparedness (n.d.), “Health care professionals and administrators must be aware of the licensing, regulation and accreditation requirements of emergency preparedness
Healthcare access is currently a hot topic within American media and under great political debate. The current Administration of this country is defunding and restructuring Healthcare and Public Health resouces as a whole. What happens when this critical infrastructure is in jeopardy of functioning as intended for the protection and welfare of this nations people in an emergency or disaster? The country depends on the stability and accessibility of its healthcare system and public health resources, especially during these events. There is no region in the United States that is immune to the variety of infrastructure catastrophes that can be caused by natural threats, such as
Preparing for an emergency and knowing what to do in case of an emergency is an important aspect every community should know. Preparedness can be the difference between life and death in certain situations. This is the case in Season two Episode five of this week’s assignment. A forest fire is raging out of control near the Neighborhood for five days. Resident’s are developing respiratory and problems related to the fire’s proximity to the city. As with any disaster, communities need to have a plan of action and be ready to put the plan in action for the safety of the
A disaster can occur at any time with or without warning. Disasters are often unexpected and cause physical destruction and deaths. It is crucial to have an emergency preparedness plan to aide in improving patient outcomes when these disasters strike. Nurses should be prepared on a personal, professional, and community (George, 2017). There are several types of disasters including natural, manmade and mass traumas. Strategic planning for these potential crises is the key to managing the life cycle (Homeland, 2017). Anyone can be at risk, however; this paper will focus on individuals living in long term healthcare facilities such as nursing homes.
Citizens of the United States face catastrophic disaster such as hurricane, tornadoes, hazmat spills and flooding. Emergency management situations varies. Managers have to put into consideration the type of disasters or the response of citizens. A great example, the hurricane in Tuscaloosa, AL required large amounts of medical and debris assistance from teams to help return the destructed site back to prior condition. National Disaster Medical Systems would be one of the first to respond if there is a tragic event like in Tuscaloosa, AL. Threw research, I hope to cover the history, objectives, goals, and support towards National Disaster Medical System.
It is important to have connections and relationships within the community, especially for when disasters occur. One reason this will benefit the hospital is through communication and delivery of news. Making a constant effort at this will help prepare the community for disasters. This requires the government’s help and using the past experiences that have failed to better prepare for the next situation. Having more community involvement will also help us identify who our vulnerable populations are in the area and what we can do to better serve them, not only in an emergency situation, but every day. It is important to build these relationships early on, so we are seen as a reliable and trustworthy source for healthcare. Vulnerable populations can include elderly, disabled, hearing impaired, or people who are at a disadvantage due to socioeconomic or immigration status. Some things that
The United States experiences a variety of natural disasters throughout the year. Regardless of the location of a natural disaster in the United States, a program of disaster preparedness, mitigation, management, and prevention must be followed. Our community is nestled deep in the southeastern corner of the United States. The south Florida area is bordered by water to the west, south, and east. We are tested each year with flooding from torrential downpours, wildfires during the dry season, and the possibility of hurricane landfall. All three of these hazards have the potential for creating great damage to property, crippling local everyday life, and possibly causing loss of life.
Public health disasters, whether the result of natural, industrial, infectious disease, or bioterrorism events, capture the world’s attention and through its devastating effects, reinforce the importance of strengthening public health emergency preparedness and response efforts. A disaster, in public health terms, is a destructive event that results in the need for a wide range of emergency resources to assist those who are effected by the event (Geale, 2012). Thus, public health emergency preparedness and response is “the capacity of the public health and health care systems, communities, and individual, to prevent, protect against, quickly respond to, and recover from health [disasters], particularly those whose scale, timing, or unpredictability threatens to overwhelm routine capabilities” (Jennings, 2016).
Public health preparedness ascribes to the ability of a health care provider to deal with the health consequences caused by emergencies. Over the past few years, public health threats have been on the rise, ranging from accidental and natural threats to intentional threats like acts of terror (Bernstein, 2013). For instance, since September 11, 2001 and the anthrax attacks efforts have been made by both the federal government and health care providers to increase the nation’s ability to prepare and respond to public health emergencies. Basically, a situation is considered to be emergent if it overwhelms the routine capabilities of a health care facility to deal with its consequences across scenarios (Gibson, Theadore & Jellison, 2012).
The last few decades have witnessed increasing incidents of large scale disasters that result in mass casualties. Apart from the natural disasters like earthquake and Tsunami, there is increasing occurrence of man-made disasters including terrorist attack, oil explosion, spread of epidemics etc. In this context, disaster preparedness, response and management has acquired significant attention in academic discourse and practice (Adini, Goldberg, Laor, & Zado, 2006). This is particularly relevant in the case of hospitals. During disasters, hospitals play a critical role and offer emergency care
A disaster is generally defined as an event in which illness or injuries surpass resource capabilities of a community or medical facility (Ignatavicius & Workman, 2010). Disaster preparedness is a process of ensuring that an organization has complied with the preventive measures and is in a state of readiness to contain the effects of a predicted disastrous event to minimize loss of life, injury, and damage to property. Disaster preparedness can also provide rescue, relief, rehabilitation, and other services in the aftermath of the disaster, as well as have the capability and resources to continue to sustain its essential functions without being overwhelmed by the demand placed on them. The American Nursing
The research questions are: (a) What does emergency preparedness mean from the point of view the staff, visitors and residents of Baptcare Karana