Table 2.

Gaps identified and future directions.

Disaster Stage	Gaps Identified	Future Directions
Mitigation	Identification of vulnerable groups	1.Improved education and awareness delivered to asthmatic patients about TA by GPs. 2.Clinical guidelines regarding the identification and treatment of allergic rhinitis and atopic patients by GPs.
Mitigation	Identification of high-risk periods for TA	3.Emergency warnings to alert healthcare staff and patients to high pollen days. 4.Improved detection of environmental/weather conditions that may precipitate TA epidemics providing early warning for GPs.
Preparedness	GP and PN education and training	5.Development of TA specific toolkits and factsheets for the recognition, diagnosis and treatment of TA patients. 6.Local knowledge of other emergency services including pharmacy, ED and ambulance access.
Response	Service provision	7.Training programs to enhance clinic surge capacity 8.Understanding of GP team roles and responsibilities during disaster response differ from the normal. 9.Personal preparedness of clinic staff
Response	Service utilization and access	10.Dynamic data base of GP clinics able to treat patients during surge events available to the public.
Response	Resources	11.Guidelines for the adequate management of personnel, medication and equipment in the clinic environment during surge events.
Response	Communication	12.Legislative change to bring GP organizations into a communication loop with emergency service stakeholders similar to CAS (in the UK) but with the potential to provide and receive real time data and feedback from GPs [32]. 13.Communication protocols and guidelines to ensure GPs are provided with the latest operational information as disasters unfold.
Recovery	Advocacy	14.Advocacy by GP organizations for policy and legislative change to better integrate them with emergency service stakeholders and tertiary healthcare providers.
Recovery	Feedback and research	15.Focus on holistic research aiming to understand the larger perspective of TA management (healthcare system capacity and utilization) 16.GP specific research for future planning