By Lynn Ibekwe, MPH
September 2013 marked the tenth annual National Preparedness Month,
sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA). In recognition of emergency preparedness as a public health
issue, ICH is continuing its efforts to raise awareness about emergency
preparedness.
In the wake of recent natural and man-made disasters, the
term “emergency preparedness” has often been used; however, few people know exactly
what it entails, especially as it pertains to health and medical preparedness.
I came to know more about this field as an evaluator for the
Partnership for Effective
Community Response (PEER)-- a disaster preparedness coalition for the
Greater Boston area. The PEER program was hosted by Boston
University School of Public Health (BUSPH) and included representatives
from hospitals, community health centers, emergency medical services, long-term
care centers, and 62 cities and towns’ local health departments. PEER’s work
centered on improving communications and response protocols, supporting mutual
aid agreements, and offering necessary trainings. ICH served as the lead
evaluator for the initiative, assessing the coalition’s processes and outcomes
and providing technical assistance for PEER activities. Working on a number of
these activities and interacting with our partners at BUSPH fueled my interest
in delving deeper into emergency preparedness as a public health issue.
We often associate emergency preparedness with terrorist
attacks, as the major American push for emergency preparedness came after 9/11
and the subsequent anthrax attacks. These events led the federal government to institute
funding
for states to support preparedness work for such disaster scenarios. However in
2004, the focus shifted from bioterrorism to an “all hazards” approach,
involving preparation for common elements of all emergencies. Going beyond
terrorist attacks, this approach encompassed preparedness for all natural disasters,
mass casualties, chemical and biological threats. This approach centered on
communities’ ability to meet the health care needs of their residents in the
event of an emergency or disaster. As a result, the Assistant Secretary for
Preparedness and Response (ASPR)—with the
passage of the Pandemic and all-Hazards Preparedness Act—was created to ensure that health care systems were
prepared to meet these needs. As a part of this continuing effort, in 2012 ASPR
and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued guidance
for the establishment of multi-disciplinary health care coalitions, emphasizing
that such partnerships are integral to emergency preparedness and strategy
coordination for an “all-hazard” approach.
Massachusetts experienced a number of emergency situations over
the past couple of years, including the Boston Marathon bombings, Hurricane
Sandy, Nor’easters, and the influenza pandemics (H1N1 and swine flu),
which have heightened awareness about
emergency preparedness across the Commonwealth. This heightened awareness has
come at a time when MA is also refocusing
its emergency preparedness strategies to include a more integrated approach
and response that will enhance MA’s health and medical capacity across the
disaster management cycle (planning, response, recovery, and mitigation).
Creating cross-jurisdictional, multi-disciplinary health and medical
coordinating coalitions (HMCC) will help to improve communication capacity
between facilities during emergencies.
The
Massachusetts Department of Public Health Emergency Preparedness Bureau (MDPH
EPB), with assistance from BUSPH, is currently in the planning phase of
establishing six HMCC’s in each of the hospital preparedness regions in
Massachusetts: Region 1, 2, 3, 4ab, 5, and Boston. Each region’s HMCC will
support preparedness and response efforts for the multiple public and private
health and health care organizations, including acute care facilities, community
health centers and other large ambulatory care organizations, emergency medical
service providers, long-term care facilities, public health agencies, and other
health care disciplines and public safety partners within each region. Staff
from each HMCC will be able to provide coordinated support and response for affected
individual agencies within its region during an emergency. ICH will once again
be engaged as the evaluator for this coalition building, and I look forward to
contributing to such a critical endeavor.
As the state continues to ensure appropriate systems are in
place for emergency situations, it is important that we—public health
professionals, practitioners, partners, and community members— follow MA’s lead
and consider how our networks could be affected in an emergency. Especially as
the fall and winter months approach, we should all take steps to ensure our communities, workplaces, and families are prepared.
The views expressed on the Institute for Community Health blog page are solely those of the blog post author(s), and do not necessarily reflect the views of ICH, the author’s employer or other organizations with which the author is associated.
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