Panel 1 Health system priorities in all-hazards disaster management – with references.
EA – Essential attribute reference from the Toolkit for assessing health-systems capacity for crisis management in the WHO Regional Office for Europe 7. Underlined priorities highlight areas that are under-represented by the Toolkit, and are discussed further below
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1) Leadership and governance • International, national and cross-boundary systems of governance, coordination and response for all-hazards disasters (Toolkit essential attribute 1a & 2a).20 21 22 23 • Interwoven nature of the legal system, ethical decision-making and disaster management (EA 3d). 24 25 26 27 • Disaster management as a political issue requiring strong leadership skills (EA 4d and EA 6d). 28 29 |
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2) Health workforce • Public health training in disaster management and evaluation 30 31 32 33 34 • Establishing the commitment, welfare and volunteer-credentialing of health workers (EA 15c). 35 26 |
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3) Medical products, vaccines and technology • Stockpiling disaster-related medications and equipment, and their distribution (EA 17b, d & e, & EA 18 b, d & e) 29 36 37 • Required characteristics for mass vaccination and understanding previous controversies (EA 18a) 38 39 40 • Public health consequences of technology failures and impact on healthcare facilities (EA 39b & c, & EA 51) 41 42 43 |
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4) Health information • Requirement to optimize the performance of health information at all stages of disaster planning (EA 21a & c, & EA 23a & b), management (EA 22b & 24) and recovery (EA 24) 44 • Awareness of research and developments in health information tools 45 • Communications – inter-agency; two-way with the public; and the role of the media as part of disaster management strategy (EA 28b,c & d) 46 28 47 23 |
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5) Health financing • Health finance system consequences on disaster management effectiveness and coordination (EA 31) 48 26 • Disaster management funding issues; implications for national public - and global – health (EA 30 & 31) 38 49 |
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6) Service delivery • Disaster preparedness (EA 32), acute response (EA 34) and continuing service requirements (EA 39 & EA 51) 50 40 51 • Community preparedness strategies to increase community resilience 52 53 54 55 56 57 • Surge capacity development within (EA 33) and beyond healthcare facilities 29 58 35 • Issues in adjusting to crisis standards of care and maintaining priorities (EA 32 & EA 36a & EA 38i) 27 • Safeguarding patient’s medical records and medication needs (EA 44a) during disaster 48 59 |