scholarly journals The Role of Primary Health Networks and General Practitioners in Disasters: Nepean Blue Mountains Primary Health Network’s Preparedness Guide

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (s1) ◽  
pp. s67-s67
Author(s):  
Lizz Reay ◽  
Penny Burns
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Management ◽  
Natural Disaster ◽  
General Practitioners ◽  
Emergency Preparedness ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Health Networks ◽  
Blue Mountains ◽  
Response System ◽  
Primary Health

Introduction:Disasters are part of the Australian landscape. Bushfires, floods, cyclones, and drought reoccurring consistently across the continent. Primary Health Networks (PHNs) and general practitioners (GPs) are scattered across Australia and are inevitably involved when disasters strike their local communities. Limited guidance exists to guide their systematic involvement within the broader disaster response system. In October 2013, large bushfires swept through the NSW Blue Mountains. The response was unusual in its inclusion of NSW general practice networks within the response system, most crucially the local (now) Nepean Blue Mountains Primary Health Network (NBMPHN).Methods:The lessons learned by GPs and NBMPHN during the fires highlighted the need for GP preparedness to improve recovery outcomes. This led to the development of a living discussion document “Emergency management: the role of the GP,” created with input from the various GP groups. More recently, a PHN emergency preparedness guide aimed at strengthening communication and formalizing the role of the PHNs and GPs before, during, and after a natural disaster.Results:Clarity and implementation of a process for disaster preparedness have enabled a more proactive and coordinated approach to local emergency management with a distinct role for both the PHN and local GPs when responding to a natural disaster.Discussion:This presentation discusses lessons learned and the preparedness strategy now in place in the Nepean Blue Mountains PHN region, and launches the emergency preparedness guide that can be used and adapted by GPs and other PHNs across Australia.

Emergency Preparedness

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter D Hurd ◽  
Stephenie Lukas ◽  
Ardis Hanson
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Management ◽  
Emergency Response ◽  
Emergency Preparedness ◽  
Disaster Preparedness ◽  
Community Pharmacists ◽  
Pharmacy Students ◽  
Rapid Responses ◽  
The Us ◽  
National Response

Pharmacists, and pharmacy students, normally have a limited exposure to the principles and structures of emergency management necessary to help coordinate effective and rapid responses. However, pharmacists’ work in disaster preparedness has taken many focuses. Community pharmacists develop emergency preparedness manuals, organize health-system pharmacy teams to respond to terrorism attacks, and identify essential actions for effective emergency response. This chapter focuses on the US health care system and emergency preparedness within its borders, starting with basic terminology and concepts and then moving onto the key components of U.S. National Response Frameworks and the role of pharmacists in the Frameworks and larger emergency preparedness and planning efforts.

Experiences of HIV/STD Providers in New York State During Hurricane Sandy: Strengths, Challenges, and Recommendations

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Kristen Vacca ◽  
Asante Shipp-Hilts ◽  
Stephanie Mack ◽  
Yunshu Li ◽  
Millicent Eidson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Key Words ◽  
Natural Disaster ◽  
Emergency Preparedness ◽  
New York State ◽  
Hurricane Sandy ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Federal State ◽  
York State ◽  
State And Local

ABSTRACT Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess strengths and challenges experienced by HIV/STD providers in providing care during the response to Hurricane Sandy (Sandy) in New York State, and their recommendations for future preparedness. Methods: A mixed methods approach, including a focus group (n = 3), interviews (n = 3), and survey (n = 31) of HIV/STD providers, was used. Key words identified by means of open coding methodology from collected data were organized into strengths, challenges, and recommendations and then grouped into federal and study-associated preparedness capabilities. Results: Key words were organized into 81 strengths (38.8%), 73 challenges (34.9%), and 55 recommendations (26.3%). Services most interrupted during Sandy were related to HIV/STD outreach and education. While providers reported challenges with external agency communication, the ability to still connect clients to needed resources was reported as a strength. Strengthening partnerships with federal, state, and local agencies was among the major recommendations made by these providers. Conclusions: This study presents unique information about challenges experienced by HIV/STD providers in providing services during a natural disaster and the use of national public health emergency preparedness capabilities to address and overcome those challenges. Lessons learned and recommendations regarding inter-agency communications emerged as an important priority during a natural disaster to minimize or reduce service interruption.

scholarly journals Should the healthcare compass in Australia point towards value-based primary healthcare?

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jodie Oliver-Baxter ◽  
Lynsey Brown ◽  
Paresh Dawda
Keyword(s):  
Quality Improvement ◽  
Primary Healthcare ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Health Networks ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Primary Health ◽  
Australian Context

This paper provides an overview of quality improvement in healthcare in an Australian context. Specifically, the paper considers issues around defining, quantifying, recording and incentivising quality improvement and accountability in primary healthcare. The role of newly emerging Primary Health Networks provides a context for the discussion. The paper draws on international learnings that provide a framework for examining the important elements of quality improvement among reforming primary healthcare organisations in order to support healthcare providers and offer an evidence base for policy makers and peak bodies moving forward.

scholarly journals Transparency and stakeholder engagement in nuclear or radiological emergency management

2020 ◽  
Vol 55 ◽  
pp. S243-S248 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Perko ◽  
M. Martell ◽  
C. Turcanu
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Management ◽  
Emergency Preparedness ◽  
Stakeholder Engagement ◽  
Stakeholder Involvement ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Radiological Emergency ◽  
The Public ◽  
Environmental Decision Making ◽  
Emergency Preparedness And Response

Stakeholder involvement and transparency are strongly interrelated. Stakeholder involvement is key to strengthening transparency, while transparency is necessary for effective stakeholder involvement. International and European legal requirements in environmental decision-making, radiation protection, nuclear safety and emergency preparedness and response call for increasing levels of transparency and stakeholder engagement. However, recent nuclear or radiological events demonstrate that transparency and engagement in practice are perceived differently by authorities, media and the public. Research conducted in this study by means of a questionnaire sent to authorities responsible for nuclear/radiological emergency management shows a range of challenges related to transparency during a nuclear or radiological emergency, e.g. fear of panic or timely and proper information. Few countries use the full potential of tools and methods for stakeholder engagement in emergency preparedness, although these may also contribute to improved transparency. Despite lessons learned to enhance transparency and stakeholder engagement in nuclear or radiological emergency management, there is room for improvement at a practical level and for finding a common understanding among stakeholders.

The role of information technology in emergency preparedness by local health departments: A literature review

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonas Nguh, PhD, MSN, MHSA, RN
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Strategic Management ◽  
Emergency Management ◽  
Emergency Preparedness ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Health Departments ◽  
Local Health Departments ◽  
Role Of Information

Ever since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the federal government increased funding for emergency preparedness. However, the literature continues to document several areas of weaknesses in public health emergency management by local health departments (LHD). This literature review discusses the role of information technology (IT) for emergency preparedness by LHDs. The focus areas for this review include evaluating the strategic management of IT by LHD, evaluation of the adoption and implementation of IT in emergency management, and assessing LHD's capacity and capability for emergency preparedness. Findings reveal that LHDs face significant challenges in the utilization of IT for emergency preparedness purposes such as weak capacity and capabilities, lack of structured planning and program implementation, and limited resources. Implications from this review include the development of “best practices,” increased funding for IT infrastructure, and the establishment of strategic management framework for IT initiatives. 

Recruiting general practitioners for surveys and other research: additional lessons learned

2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 117
Author(s):  
Suzanne McKenzie ◽  
Sarah Larkins ◽  
Margaret Spillman
Keyword(s):  
General Practitioners ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Australian Journal ◽  
Research Network ◽  
Primary Health ◽  
Practice Based Research

This letter acknowledges the work of Parkinson et al. ‘Recruiting general practitioners for surveys: reflections on the difficulties and some lessons learned’ (Australian Journal of Primary Health, 2015, 21(2), 254–258), but contributes additional reflections and lessons learned from a successful practice-based research network.

Emergency planning and people with disabilities: Massachusetts’ lessons learned

2009 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin McGaffigan, MSW, MS, Public Policy ◽  
Chris Oliveira, BS ◽  
Diane Enochs, BA, MA
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Management ◽  
Emergency Preparedness ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Functional Limitations ◽  
People With Disabilities ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Accessibility Barriers ◽  
State And Local ◽  
Hurricanes Katrina And Rita

Continued challenges responding to large-scale emergencies are recognized in the aftermath of events such as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Elders and people with disabilities often included under the label of “vulnerable” or “special populations,” are especially hard hit given communication and accessibility barriers often faced even prior to an emergency. Approximately 15 percent of those living within our communities have disabilities, which jumps to 41 percent for those 65 years or older.1 The prevalence of functional limitations due to age or disability indicates the need for these factors to be accounted for in planning, response, recovery, and mitigation efforts at the national, state, and local level to ensure a truly effective emergency response system that meets the needs of all residents. To achieve this effort emergency management, public health, disability and elder stakeholders within Massachusetts joined together to identify the existing planning gaps and to explore potential solutions to support emergency preparedness so that emergency management systems are responsive to all individuals in the community, regardless of age or disability. The Commonwealth’s process and lessons learned are discussed later.

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