Table 2.
Overview of 10 practical disaster tools that can be used by public health officials.
| Tool | Application | Objective | Guidance domain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public health capabilities performance measurement tool72 | Table-top exercises | Measure public health functional capabilities in a tabletop exercise setting | Disease control and prevention; surveillance; mass care; leadership and management; public health system communication |
| Regional public health emergency preparedness for cross-border public health preparedness73 | Checklist | Assess regional public health emergency preparedness, specifically in regard to cross-border public health preparedness needs | Recommends 24 specific agreements, protocols, systems, and management structures that should be considered to foster cross-border public health preparedness |
| Multiplying factor (MF) as a predictive tool during mass casualty incident (MCI) 74 | Decision-making tool to anticipate the need for ambulance and life support resources | Evaluate the usefulness of a multiplying factor in estimating final number of victims in these types of events: explosions, fire, and road traffic accidents | Predicting mortality after MCI accounting for under-reporting bias |
| Evaluation of Environmental and Epidemiological Risk Factors During the Emergency Through a Crowdsourcing Tool75 | Ad hoc web/mobile website created on the Ushahidi/Crowdmap platform | Describe main environmental risk factors in the emergency process after a large urban fire | Environmental risk factors for damaged infrastructure, vectors, and garbage |
| Mass-Gathering Triage Tool for First Responders76 | Australian mass-gathering triage tool during clinical assessment and management of patients | Describe the development of a mass-gathering triage tool for use by first responders in Australia | Categories included: resuscitation; urgent; minor; self-help |
| Tool to Assess Long Term Public Health Effects of Earthquakes77 | GIS-based tool for assessing long-term effects of a disaster on childhood stunting | Explored whether long-term public health effects of earthquakes can be assessed using a combination of readily available data sources on public health and geographic distribution of seismic activity | Long-term public health effects |
| Measuring impact of sectoral response: Post-tsunami78 | Framework on Durable Solutions for Internally Displaced Persons Impact measurement tool | Performed impact assessment of humanitarian services rendered in Aceh using a comprehensive set of rights-based indicators and determined modifiable predictors of improved outcomes in disaster-affected households | Pre-tsunami conditions; tsunami damages; displacement; and assistance received |
| Surveillance of injuries post-hurricane in North Carolina79 | North Carolina Disease Event Tracking and Epidemiologic Collection Tool (NC Detect) data to estimate hurricane-associated injuries | Characterized nonfatal injuries, by age groups, that were seen in emergency departments (EDs) in 29 selected counties in Eastern North Carolina following Hurricane Iren | Derive estimate for common injuries observed in Emergency Departments in acute phase of natural disaster |
| Respiratory and mental health effects of wildfires: an ecological study80 | ecological geographical- and temporal-cluster study on anxiolytics-hypnotics and drugs for obstructive airway diseases consumption | Analyzed the respiratory and mental health effects of the August-2006 fires, using consumption of anxiolytics-hypnotics and drugs for obstructive airway diseases as indicators | Research on drug use is a useful tool for studying morbidity associated with environmental impacts post-disaster |
| Preserving lessons learned in disease outbreaks and other emergency responses81 | Steps to take pre-, during, and post-event to preserving information | Explored the process of studying disaster events by gathering, preserving and presenting data |
Pre-event: identify and meet with stakeholders; establish consensus on importance of lessons learned; identify needed skills and resources; create writing protocols for preserving information; create agreements and relationships with stakeholders Post-event: gather post-event data; analyze and consolidate/disseminate in practical way |