This field manual is an updated edition of the publication 'Protocol for assessment of health facilities responding to emergencies' (1999). It provides a management tool for health professionals evaluating the preparedness of their health facilities for dealing with disasters, and it contains three main sections: a questionnaire presented in a checklist format for capacity assessment; aspects of preparedness relating to structural and non-structural vulnerability, functions and human resources; and preparedness for specific emergencies relating to industrial sectors and contamination, infectious disease outbreaks and biological, chemical and radiological emergencies.

Meant to aid State & local emergency managers in their efforts to develop & maintain a viable all-hazard emergency operations plan. This guide clarifies the preparedness, response, & short-term recovery planning elements that warrant inclusion in emergency operations plans. It offers the best judgment & recommendations on how to deal with the entire planning process -- from forming a planning team to writing the plan. Specific topics of discussion include: preliminary considerations, the planning process, emergency operations plan format, basic plan content, functional annex content, hazard-unique planning, & linking Federal & State operations.

This handbook is developed with the aim of supporting healthcare facilities to minimize disruption and ultimately increase the resilience of health services during public health emergencies. It supports the development of service continuity plans in PHE context by outlining the procedures and key elements to be considered for planning including a planning template. By nature, the utility of this handbook is not specific to a specific emergency response. It underpins a preparedness and proactive approach towards managing various public health emergency risks for which the health services should be prepared before they occur or disrupt health services. The intended audiences for this interim handbook are health facilities and services managers, health workers and health authorities with responsibilities to plan and coordinate emergency management and service continuity operations among health facilities. These users can apply this handbook in: - enhancing awareness on the necessity of service continuity planning and the associated requirements; - reviewing and updating their existing service continuity plans and other arrangements for health services continuity; - developing service continuity plans if there are none for their health facilities. This interim version will be updated as required based on lessons from its application in countries.

The Framework for a Public Health Emergency Operations Centre (PHEOC framework) document is intended to be used by practitioners of public health; health policy makers; and authorities and agencies responsible for managing emergencies, incidents, or events where the health of populations is at risk. This document provides high-level methodical guidance for designing, developing, and strengthening of public health emergency operations centers. This interim document outlines the key concepts and essential requirements for developing and managing a public health EOC (PHEOC). The overall approach is generic and based on widely acknowledged elements of all-hazards emergency management. It provides an outline for developing and managing a PHEOC to achieve a goal-oriented response to public health emergencies and unity of effort among response agencies. The document will be revised as necessary. Practical guidance on specific aspects of the PHEOC framework will be developed and published separately. A public health emergency is here defined as an occurrence, or imminent threat, of an illness or health condition that poses a substantial risk of a significant number of human fatalities, injuries or permanent or long-term disability. Public health emergencies can result from a wide range of hazards and complex emergencies. Experience has shown that timely implementation of an EOC provides an essential platform for the effective management of public health emergencies. Public health emergencies involve increased incidence of illness, injury and/or death and require special measures to address increased morbidity, mortality and interruption of essential health services. For such emergencies, a multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional response is often required, working with the national disaster management organization. When normal resources and capacities are exceeded, support from outside the affected areas will also be required. External assistance could include national, cross-border, regional or international resources.

This book has all non-clinical chapters, as for all clinical chapters I will be publishing the second book soon. These standards should be used by all healthcare service leaders in hospital commissioning, operations, quality improvement, patient safety and risk management.

Natural and man-made disasters, like floods and eruptions of volcanoes, have tormented mankind since antiquity. Despite all the warning signs, it is certain that when the eruption of Vesuvius started on the morning of 24 August, CE 79, it caught the local population of Pompeii utterly unprepared for the major disaster that ultimately ruined the entire city. What makes our world today different from the population of ancient Pompeii 2,000 years ago, is better abilities to share scientific data about the warning signs of disasters. Modern technologies are giving us an unprecedented opportunity to share disaster preparedness and mitigation information very rapidly and effectively. Technologies such as the Internet, telecommunications, etc., have a great potential to help us prepare for disasters, however, oftentimes scientists are not taking advantage of them. This publication focuses on the importance of the networking of scientists researching the area of natural and man-made disasters, to try to prepare the world better for them in the future.

Disasters and public health emergencies can stress health care systems to the breaking point and disrupt delivery of vital medical services. During such crises, hospitals and long-term care facilities may be without power; trained staff, ambulances, medical supplies and beds could be in short supply; and alternate care facilities may need to be used. Planning for these situations is necessary to provide the best possible health care during a crisis and, if needed, equitably allocate scarce resources. Crisis Standards of Care: A Toolkit for Indicators and Triggers examines indicators and triggers that guide the implementation of crisis standards of care and provides a discussion toolkit to help stakeholders establish indicators and triggers for their own communities. Together, indicators and triggers help guide operational decision making about providing care during public health and medical emergencies and disasters. Indicators and triggers represent the information and actions taken at specific thresholds that guide incident recognition, response, and recovery. This report discusses indicators and triggers for both a slow onset scenario, such as pandemic influenza, and a no-notice scenario, such as an earthquake. Crisis Standards of Care features discussion toolkits customized to help various stakeholders develop indicators and triggers for their own organizations, agencies, and jurisdictions. The toolkit contains scenarios, key questions, and examples of indicators, triggers, and tactics to help promote discussion. In addition to common elements designed to facilitate integrated planning, the toolkit contains chapters specifically customized for emergency management, public health, emergency medical services, hospital and acute care, and out-of-hospital care.

Comprehensive Preparedness Guide (CPG) 101 provides guidelines on developing emergency operations plans (EOP). It promotes a common understanding of the fundamentals of risk-informed planning and decision making to help planners examine a hazard or threat and produce integrated, coordinated, and synchronized plans. The goal of CPG 101 is to make the planning process routine across all phases of emergency management and for all homeland security mission areas. This Guide helps planners at all levels of government in their efforts to develop and maintain viable all-hazards, all-threats EOPs. Accomplished properly, planning provides a methodical way to engage the whole community in thinking through the life cycle of a potential crisis, determining required capabilities, and establishing a framework for roles and responsibilities. It shapes how a community envisions and shares a desired outcome, selects effective ways to achieve it, and communicates expected results. Each jurisdiction's plans must reflect what that community will do to address its specific risks with the unique resources it has or can obtain.