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CERT Hazard Annexes: Participant Manual
This guide from the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) covers skills important to know when facing the following hazards: avalanches, earthquakes, extreme heat, fires, floods, hurricanes, landslides, nuclear emergencies, thunderstorms, tornadoes, tsunamis, volcanoes, and winter storms.
United States. Federal Emergency Management Agency; Community Emergency Response Team (U.S.)
2019-08
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National Strategy for Global Supply Chain Security
"In recent years, advances in communications technology, along with reductions in trade barriers and production costs, have opened new markets and created new jobs and opportunity for workers. The global supply chain system that supports this trade is essential to the United States' economy and security and is a critical global asset. We have seen that disruptions to supply chains caused by natural disasters - earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions - and from criminal and terrorist networks seeking to exploit the system or use it as a means of attack can adversely impact global economic growth and productivity. As a nation, we must address the challenges posed by these threats and strengthen our national and international policies accordingly. Through the National Strategy for Global Supply Chain Security, we seek to strengthen global supply chains in order to protect the welfare and interests ofthe American people and secure our Nation's economic prosperity. We reject the false choice between security and efficiency and firmly believe that we can promote economic growth while protecting our core values as a nation and as a people. Through this Strategy, we endorse a national approach and active collaboration with the international community. We will integrate and energize our efforts to enhance our ability to manage risk by building a layered defense, addressing threats early, and fostering a resilient system that can absorb and recover rapidly from unanticipated disruptions. By institutionalizing information-sharing arrangements, streamlining government processes, and synchronizing standards and procedures, we can realize new efficiencies while strengthening global supply chains."
United States. White House Office
2012-01
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EMR-ISAC: InfoGram, Volume 19 Issue 13, April 25, 2019
The Emergency Management and Response Information Sharing and Analysis Center's (EMR-ISAC) InfoGram is a weekly publication of information concerning the protection of critical infrastructures relevant to members of the Emergency Services Sector. This issue includes the following articles: "Communications Strategies for Global Catastrophic Biological Risks"; "Dark Web Primer: How Much Are You Worth to a Cybercriminal?"; "PrepTalks and Webinar on Supply Chain Resilience"; and "Exercise to Test 7.7 Earthquake Scenario Near Memphis, Tennessee."
Emergency Management and Response-Information Sharing and Analysis Center (U.S.)
2019-04-25
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RELIEF [August 2012]
This edition of the RELIEF (Research & Experimentation for Local & International Emergency First Responders) newsletter includes the following sections: "Director's Corner"; "RELIEF 12-4 Experimentation Recap: Collecting Imagery that Matters"; "Integrated Earthquake Response"; "Exploring Logistics in Humanitarian Operations"; "Real-time Analytics of Social Media Streams"; "Drones for Peace"; "Social Media Dashboard"; and "Update on Returning Projects".
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)
2012-08
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Leadership of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Hearing Beofre the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, House of Representatives, One Hundred Twelfth Congress, Second Session, December 14, 2011
From the opening statement of Elijah E. Cummings: "In March of this year, a massive earthquake and subsequent tsunami killed more than 20,000 people and devastated northern Japan. It caused catastrophic damage at four of the nuclear reactors at the Fukushima power station. This was the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl 25 years earlier. Our number-one priority on this committee must be ensuring that we learn the lessons of the Fukushima disaster and take appropriate action to improve the safety of nuclear power plants in this country. Yesterday, the Union of Concerned Scientists issued a statement imploring our committee to focus today's hearing squarely on these safety issues. Dr. Lisbeth Gronlund, a physicist and co-director of global security program at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), urged the committee to focus on the safety issues facing the U.S. reactor fleet rather than on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) internal squabbling. I strongly agree with the statements of Ms. Gronlund. The single most critical issue facing the NRC today is how it will respond to the Fukushima crisis. Five months ago, a task force of career NRC staff issued 12 recommendations intended to make U.S. nuclear power plants safer. In October, the staff prioritized eight of these recommendations. According to the staff, these recommendations have the greatest potential for safety improvement in the near term and should be started without delay. […] The natural question is, where do we go from here? Based on the letters all five Commissioners have sent to the committee in preparation for today's hearing, I believe they are all willing to fulfill the fundamental mission of the NRC. I sincerely hope that we can use today's hearing as an opportunity to get beyond past differences and refocus our energies on the goal of nuclear safety."
Statements, letters, and materials submitted for the record include those of the following: Elijah E. Cummings, Gregory B. Jaczko, Kristine L. Svinicki, William D. Magwood IV, William C. Ostendorff, George Apostolakis, William Borchardt, and Stephen Burns
United States. Government Printing Office
2012
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Coffee Break Training: Fire Pump Locations
"Fire pumps are an essential part of many facilities' fire protection features. Whether they draw water from a stationary source, or boost the pressure from a tank or municipal supply, they should be protected in such a way that they will operate under the worst conditions. NFPA [National Fire Protection Association] 20, 'Standard for the Installation of Stationary Pumps for Fire Protection' requires that the fire pump, driver, controller, water supply, and power supply be protected against possible interruption of service through damage caused by explosion, fire, flood, earthquake, rodents, insects, windstorm, freezing, vandalism, and other adverse conditions."
United States Fire Administration
2008-01-29
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Coffee Break Training: Fire Pump Room Features
"NFPA [National Fire Protection Association] 20, 'tandard for the Installation of Stationary Pumps for Fire Protection', requires that the fire pump, driver, controller, water supply, and power supply shall be protected against possible interruption of service through damage caused by explosion, fire, flood, earthquake, rodents, insects, windstorm, freezing, vandalism, and other adverse conditions."
United States Fire Administration
2008-02-05
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Building Science
From the webpage: "The FEMA Building Science Branch provides technical services for the Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration (FIMA). The branch develops and produces multi-hazard mitigation guidance that focuses on creating disaster-resilient communities to reduce loss of life and property. Building Science Branch activities include deploying Mitigation Assessment Teams to conduct post-disaster engineering investigations for both man-made and natural hazard events. Building Science takes a lead role in developing publications, guidance materials, tools, technical bulletins, and recovery advisories that incorporate the most up-to-date building codes, floodproofing requirements, seismic design standards, and wind design requirements for new construction and the repair of existing buildings. In addition to providing technical support for the development and adoption of model building codes and standards, Building Science Branch provides technical support for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) for public and private sector stakeholders, the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP), the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program (NWIRP), and pursuing outreach strategies for communicating Building Science issues."
United States. Federal Emergency Management Agency
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Coffee Break Training: Clearance Around Sprinkler Pipe
"In those areas where earthquakes may cause buildings to move, sprinkler pipe and tube must be protected from physical damage. The potential for shifting walls, floors, slabs or other rigid elements may result in shearing the sprinkler pipe with catastrophic consequences."
United States Fire Administration
2006-12-05
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Guidance for Establishing Crisis Standards of Care for Use in Disaster Situations: A Letter Report
"The influenza pandemic caused by the 2009 H1N1 virus underscores the immediate and critical need to prepare for a public health emergency in which thousands, tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of people suddenly seek and require medical care in communities across the United States. Guidance for Establishing Crisis Standards of Care for Use in Disaster Situations draws from a broad spectrum of expertise-including state and local public health, emergency medicine and response, primary care, nursing, palliative care, ethics, the law, behavioral health, and risk communication-to offer guidance toward establishing standards of care that should apply to disaster situations, both naturally occurring and manmade, under conditions in which resources are scarce. Guidance for Establishing Crisis Standards of Care for Use in Disaster Situations explores two case studies that illustrate the application of the guidance and principles laid out in the report. One scenario focuses on a gradual-onset pandemic flu. The other scenario focuses on an earthquake and the particular issues that would arise during a no-notice event. Outlining current concepts and offering guidance, this book will prove an asset to state and local public health officials, healthcare facilities, and professionals in the development of systematic and comprehensive policies and protocols for standards of care in disasters where resources are scarce. In addition, the extensive 'operations' section of the book provides guidance to clinicians, healthcare institutions, and state and local public health officials for how those crisis standards of care should be implemented in a disaster situation."
National Academies Press (U.S.)
Altevogt, Bruce M.; Stroud, Clare; Hanson, Sarah L.
2009
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Can the Arab World Cope with the Coronavirus?
From the Document: "The coronavirus pandemic caught the Western world unprepared despite all the technology and medical advances available in those countries. What about Iran and the Arab world? How are they coping? These dictatorial states know how to control their populations and suppress both information and unrest, but appear for the most part to have no idea how to fight an invisible virus. Just as Italy is the source of much of the spread of the virus in the Western world, Iran has been the source of most of the infections in the Arab world. Almost every single case in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon originated in Iran. The Iranian regime has no idea how to contain the epidemic. The country has dealt with earthquakes, wars, and revolutions, but is finding it impossible to cope with the rapid spread of the coronavirus."
Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies (BESA Center)
Cohen, Edy
2020-03-18
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'ENA Topic Brief': Crisis Standards of Care (CSC)
From the Purpose: "Disasters often occur with little warning and can have catastrophic consequences for the community. Nurses are positioned to have a leadership role in the operational management of these events. At its core, a disaster is the complete imbalance between the resources at hand and the demands for those same resources. In events that impact the health and wellness of the community, healthcare resources can be expected to be an area experiencing significant strain. The resources impacted may be as specific as intensive care beds and ventilators as in the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003, or wide-reaching as in the generalized collapse of the healthcare infrastructure in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake. The purpose of this topic brief is to provide emergency nurses with the background and key concepts related to crisis standards of care (CSC) to enable discussions, planning, and education to occur before a crisis materializes."
Emergency Nurses Association
2017-11
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CERC: Introduction
From the Document: "The Centers for Disease Control's (CDC) Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication (CERC) manual provides an evidence-based framework and best practices for anyone who communicates on behalf of an organization responding to a public health emergency. CERC is built around psychological and communication sciences, studies in the field of issues management, and lessons learned from emergency responses. Emergencies can assault communities in an instant. Hurricanes, chemical releases, bombs, pandemic illness, and earthquakes are just some of the emergencies that we know could threaten any community at any time. Often, communicating information is the first and only resource available for responders to give affected communities at the onset of an emergency. Through effective communication, we can impact how our community responds to and recovers from these potentially devastating emergencies."
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.)
2018
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Supply and Demand: The Case for Community Medical Resiliency
"Events such as 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and pandemic flu have led emergency response professionals to recognize the urgent need to plan for catastrophic medical events. How could the medical system deal with a large number of casualties--due to a nuclear detonation, massive earthquake, biological disease (intentional or novel), etc.--when the majority of hospitals operate at peak capacity normally and overcrowding is common during the normal flu season? Not since the Spanish Influenza of 1918 has the U.S. been pressed to manage the ill or injured on a national scale. Patients were cared for in public venues (arenas and concert halls) and even tents because the requisite hospital beds were not available. Half of all Americans were infected and reportedly 675,000 died, approximately half between the ages of 20-40.1 Yet despite the knowledge that we have less medical capacity now on a per capita basis, policy makers and emergency planners still fail to adequately address the most important aspect of emergency management: the ability to provide care to citizens during a catastrophe. Given that the supply of medical services has limitations, which can be quickly overwhelmed during a natural or manmade catastrophic incident, it is apparent that we must fundamentally evaluate our ability to reduce the demand side of the equation during these rare, but certain to occur events. Adequately reducing the demand for medical services will require development of 'community medical resiliency.'"
Homeland Security Policy Institute (George Washington University)
Lord, Gregg; Bogis, Arnold
2010-09-17
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Evacuation and Shelter in Place Guidance for Healthcare Facilities: Part III: Tabletop Exercises
"Evacuation of a healthcare facility may be necessary following an emergency such as a facility fire or damage from a natural disaster such as an earthquake or flooding. The decision to evacuate a healthcare facility will be based on the ability of the facility to meet the medical needs of the patients/residents and/or the ability to ensure life safety of patients/residents, personnel, and visitors. Immediate threats to life, such as internal fires or unstable structures, will require emergent evacuation, while other situations may require a shelter‐in‐place or allow for a planned and phased evacuation. […] The purpose of this exercise is to provide an open environment for participants to have an opportunity to identify key response activities and identify resource and planning needs as they pertain to shelter in place and/or evacuation. In addition, it is an opportunity to better understand the roles, relationships, and responsibilities, and expectations of facility departments (or community response partners, if engaging outside agencies), and to coordinate and integrate plans."
Los Angeles County (Calif.). Emergency Medical Services Agency
2012-04-17
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Community Emergency Response Team: Pandemic Influenza Module, Participant Guide
"As a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) member, you provide invaluable support to your community in times of need. The core training you received helped prepare you to respond to disasters of all kinds - earthquakes, fires, floods, and other naturally occurring or man-made emergencies. This pandemic influenza (flu) module was developed for CERT members with little or no medical background. For the purpose of this module, pandemic influenza will be referred to as pandemic flu. [...] The module was designed to identify possible CERT roles before, during, or after a pandemic flu outbreak. It includes information that you, your family, or your neighbors may need before, during, and after a flu pandemic."
California. Department of Public Health
2009-09
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Hospital Shelter in Place Planning Checklist
"Hospitals are required to incorporate Shelter in Place (SIP) planning into their Emergency Management Program (EMP). Sheltering in place is a rapid and effective means of protecting facility occupants from an external or internal threat. In some circumstances, the external environment could pose a significant danger to patients, staff and visitors (for example, chemical, biological or nuclear event). In others, community infrastructure damage and/or limitations and a lack of timely evacuation support resources may make immediate evacuation impossible (for example, earthquake, wildfire, flood). It is not the intent of this document to address every aspect of SIP planning, but to prompt the development and documentation of criteria, critical decision-making factors, and SIP plans. SIP planning should be addressed in mitigation strategies, preparedness activities, and response and recovery plans."
California Hospital Association
2009-03-06
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Emergency Medical Services Agency Draft: Pediatric/Neonatal Disaster and Medical Surge Plan and Preparedness Toolkit
"The events of the Katrina Hurricane (2008), H1N1 Pandemic Flu (2009), and Haiti Earthquake (2010) demonstrate the need for a strong collaborative approach integrating newborns, infants and children into disaster planning. The resources required for the care of neonates and children are limited and regionally distributed. Successful neonatal and pediatric all-hazard preparedness relies on a strong network of committed public health agencies, emergency medical services, hospitals and communities. First steps to effective response include preserving bed capacity, competency and equipment to support a system of emergency care for infants and children within the county under normal conditions."
Contra Costa County (Calif.). Health Services Department
2010-11
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Contra Costa County Pediatric/Neonatal Disaster and Medical Surge Plan and Preparedness Toolkit
"The events of the Katrina Hurricane (2005), H1N1 Pandemic Flu (2009), and Haiti Earthquake (2010) demonstrate the need for a strong collaborative approach integrating newborns, infants and children into disaster planning. The resources required for the care of neonates and children are limited and regionally distributed. Successful neonatal and pediatric all-hazard preparedness relies on a strong network of committed public health agencies, emergency medical services, hospitals and communities. First steps to effective response include preserving bed capacity, competency and equipment to support a system of emergency care for infants and children within the county under normal conditions. The Contra Costa EMS [Emergency Medical Services] for Children (EMSC) Plan implemented in 2000 has been fundamental to improving and sustaining standards of care for the pediatric population from birth to age 18. The plan was updated in 2008 and is available on the Contra Costa County EMS website at www.cccems.org. The Contra Costa EMSC Plan provides the essential foundation to build an effective infrastructure of sustainable neonatal and pediatric disaster preparedness. The next step to providing effective disaster preparedness involves the practice of including neonates and pediatrics in all county, provider agency and hospital-based disaster exercises. This toolkit has been developed to facilitate this preparedness and is to be used in conjunction with California EMS Authority EMS for Children (EMSC) Pediatric Disaster Preparedness Guidelines for LEMSAs [Local EMS Agencies] and EMSC Pediatric Disaster Preparedness Guidelines for Hospitals."
Contra Costa County (Calif.). Emergency Medical Services Agency
2011-02
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Medical Consequences of Radiological and Nuclear Warfare
From the Foreword: "The events of September 11, 2001, catalyzed a long-recognized terror threat around the world and heightened global concern regarding the management and creation of weapons of mass destruction in the post-Cold War era. The US Army Medical Department, in conjunction with other US military commands and military health services, government agencies, and our allies, has undertaken ambitious programs to meet the unique nuclear and radiation challenges and threats that have grown increasingly complex in today's world. Other long-standing nuclear realities include industrial radiation leaks and associated potential catastrophic events caused by human error and natural disasters, such as the earthquake and tsunami that resulted in the disaster at the Japanese Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Continual global conversation and collaboration among principal entities is needed to improve medical doctrine and policies that not only address combat operations, but how military medicine influences and works with other agencies--international, federal, state, and local--in large-scale, multi-agency responses."
United States. Department of the Army. Office of the Surgeon General; US Army Medical Department Center and School
Mickelson, Anthony B.
2012
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Rapid Visual Screening of Buildings for Potential Seismic Hazards: Supporting Documentation, Third Edition
From the Overview: "The FEMA P-154 report, 'Rapid Visual Screening of Buildings for Potential Seismic Hazards: A Handbook,' (FEMA, 2015) describes a rapid visual screening (RVS) procedure for identifying those buildings that might pose serious risk of loss of life and injury when a damaging earthquake occurs due to collapse. The 'Handbook' provides detailed guidance on what rapid visual screening is and how to conduct it effectively. This report provides the technical basis for the method. Similar to the first and second editions of FEMA 154 and FEMA 155 (FEMA, 1988a,b and 2002a,b), two documents have been created for the 'Third Edition,' in part because it is anticipated that there will be two different target audiences. FEMA P-154 is written for those who will screen buildings and for those policy makers tasked with determining what type of screening program to implement. FEMA P-155, on the other hand, is written for those who want to understand the details and assumptions that underlie the methodology and how Basic Scores and Score Modifiers were calculated."
United States. Federal Emergency Management Agency
2015-01
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Ten Ways Mount St. Helens Changed Our World--The Enduring Legacy of the 1980 Eruption
From the Document: "Mount St. Helens was once enjoyed for its serene beauty and was considered one of America's most majestic volcanoes because of its perfect cone shape, similar to Japan's beloved Mount Fuji. Nearby residents assumed that the mountain was solid and enduring. That perception changed during the early spring of 1980. Then, on May 18, 1980, following 2 months of earthquakes and small explosions, the volcano's over-steepened north flank collapsed in a colossal landslide and triggered a near-horizontal blast, followed by a powerful vertical eruption. The high-speed, rock-filled, and gas-charged blast quickly evolved into a gravitationally driven pyroclastic flow, which leveled millions of trees, stripped them of their branches and bark, and scoured soil from bedrock. The vertical eruption that followed fed a towering plume of ash for more than 9 hours. Winds carried the ash from the volcano and deposited it hundreds of miles away. Lahars (volcanic mudflows) buried river valleys. These catastrophic events caused the worst volcanic disaster in the recorded history of the conterminous United States. The events violently transformed Mount St. Helens and left a lasting impression on the hearts and minds of people living in the Pacific Northwest and beyond."
Geological Survey (U.S.); United States. Department of the Interior
2020-05
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Planning for Concurrent Emergencies
From the Background: "Given the protracted nature of the COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic, states will likely experience additional, simultaneous emergencies concurrent with additional outbreaks of the virus. Experts are forecasting an above-average season for hurricane activity across the Atlantic as well as an above normal wildfire risk for the states in the Pacific Northwest. Extreme heat may present a nationwide threat and most states are likely to experience above average temperatures for many months of this year. Earthquakes, targeted violence, and cybersecurity incidents know no season and pose persistent risk. Responding to and recovering from these disasters independently presents a significant challenge to states, notwithstanding the already staggering effects of COVID-19 on human, financial, and physical resources. Governors will need to work across the emergency management enterprise to properly prepare for a confluence of events that will strain their already burdened systems to ensure that their states are ready to protect lives and property. This memorandum provides: [1] Actions for Governors Looking to Bolster Emergency Preparedness; [2] An Overview of the Planning Considerations for Simultaneous Emergencies."
National Governors' Association
2020-06-01
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CRED Crunch Newsletter: COVID-19 and Other Disasters (July 2020)
From the Document: "The current COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic is an unprecedented event that tests the ability of health systems and governments to manage health risks. For instance, the capacity of medical services such as intensive care units had to be increased significantly in many countries to be able to cope with the sudden and rising influx of patients. This type of response is not unique for COVID-19, but can also be observed after the occurrence of other disasters, such as earthquakes. What is different is that COVID-19 affects all countries almost simultaneously, regardless of their wealth or the quality of their health system. Consequentially, richer countries are not in the position to provide international aid and support to low- and middle-income countries. On top of the disruption caused by the pandemic, there is a growing concern that COVID-19 will intersect with other health crises such as extreme climate events or other natural or technological disasters. Two types of situations can be distinguished. First, when the disaster agents are different but related, we speak of a compound disaster."
Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters
2020-07
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Coffee Break Training: Access and Water Supplies: Static Water Supply Calculations
"In many parts of the country, a static water supply like this quarry pond might serve as a community's major fire protection water source. There may be times, though, that an urban area fire department may have to draft from a pond or lake in the local public park if its regular water supply is disturbed by an earthquake, power loss, or other service interruption. To prepare for that contingency, the fire department should do a preincident survey to determine the amount of available water. Determining the volume in a symmetrical container such as a square swimming pool or round tank is simple: there are mathematical formulas in almost every fire protection hydraulics handbook to do the calculations."
United States Fire Administration
2009-05-12
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Coffee Break Training: Building Construction: Shear Walls in Steel Construction
"These X-shaped cross braces are part of a structural reinforcement called a 'shear wall.' In those environments where high winds or earthquakes pose a risk to structural stability, shear walls are used to provide strength and stiffness to the building. When shear walls are strong enough, they will transfer these horizontal forces to the next element in the load path below them, such as other shear walls, floors, foundation walls, slabs, or footings. Shear walls also provide lateral stiffness to prevent the roof or floor above from excessive side-sway. When shear walls are stiff enough, they will prevent floor and roof framing members from moving off their supports. Buildings that are sufficiently stiff will usually suffer less nonstructural damage."
United States Fire Administration
2010-06-15
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Coffee Break Training: Part II: Modular Construction
"'Modular construction' is a type of construction in which portions of the building are divided into modules or sections that are manufactured in a remote facility and delivered to a site for final assembly into a building. The modules are assembled into a single building using either a crane or trucks. Most often encountered as modular homes, this method of construction is being used increasingly in multifamily dwellings and commercial and institutional occupancies. Once construction is complete, it is very difficult to tell whether a structure was built using modular construction methods. Modular homes use the same materials for framing, interior finishes, exterior finishes, and the same heating and cooling systems that are used in traditional construction. The appraised value of modular homes typically is identical to that of site-built homes. Modular home designs are customized to comply with local building and zoning codes. For example, homes built for final assembly in a hurricane- or earthquake-prone area will have additional bracing built in to meet local building codes. Modular components typically are constructed within a large indoor facility on assembly lines much like Henry Ford originally instituted for automobile assembly. Such facilities use an assembly-line track to move the modules from one workstation to the next. Independent third-party building inspectors are on site to supervise the construction and ensure that all building codes are adhered to during assembly."
United States Fire Administration
2008-09-30
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Safer, Stronger Homes: Reducing Your Risk During a Natural Disaster
"Why should I consider improving the way my home is built? Don't building codes already ensure a home is safe enough? And doesn't insurance take care of any damage anyway? How much does it cost and what do I get in return? -- These are just a few of the questions that come to mind when considering decisions related to upgrading the construction of your new home. At a very basic level, most people probably will admit that they want to avoid costly forms of damage to their home, personal contents, and harm to human life. Yet there are natural forces all around us that we often ignore or pay little attention to for various reasons. We tend to assume the big events like hurricanes and earthquakes are already taken care of through building codes. As you read through this document, you will find that building codes don't fully protect you or your home all of the time. Further, they don't often address damage from smaller events that can prove costly. The first step to considering improvements during construction, or mitigation as it is often called, is to become an informed builder or consumer. That is the primary goal of this guide."
United States. Department of Housing and Urban Development
2011-11
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Crisis Standards of Care: Lessons from New York City Hospitals' COVID-19 Experience. A Meeting Report
From the Introduction: "In the spring of 2020, hospitals in New York City suffered an unprecedented surge of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. This surge was associated with extraordinary use of critical care resources and high case fatality ratios (the number deaths divided by the number of recognized cases). During this epidemic, there were many reports of hospitals being overwhelmed. There were also reports about how conventional standards of care were unable to be maintained, forcing hospitals and healthcare workers to adjust the way in which care was provided in order to do the most good for the greatest number. 'Standard of care' is a legal concept related to 'the level at which the average, prudent provider in a given community would practice. It is how similarly qualified practitioners would have managed the patient's care under the same or similar circumstances.' The term 'crisis standards of care' (CSC) refers to 'a substantial change in usual healthcare operations and the level of care it is possible to deliver, which is made necessary by a pervasive (eg, pandemic influenza) or catastrophic (eg, earthquake, hurricane) disaster.' [...] For over a decade, there has been considerable discussion within the healthcare preparedness professional community about CSC. [...] The purpose of this project was to convene a trusted space in which critical care physicians from hospitals across New York City could discuss their experiences with CSC implementation with each other and with national experts on CSC."
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Center for Health Security
Toner, Eric (Eric S.); Mukherjee, Vikramjit; Hanfling, Dan . . .
2020-11
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Mobilizing the Pacific Diaspora: A Key Component of Disaster Resilience
From the Document: "Of all the earth's regions, the Pacific is one of the most prone to natural disasters. Climate-related disasters such as floods, droughts, and tropical cyclones make the headlines, along with other natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions. These may be accompanied by crises in public health. Samoa, for example, confronted a measles epidemic in 2019, followed by the global COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic in 2020. In Fiji and Vanuatu, the pandemic was compounded by Cyclone Harold. These experiences highlight the severity of cascading disasters and the complex requirements for a humanitarian response. Today, many Pacific Island countries rely heavily on government relief and international aid when they face a disaster. Traditional sources of resilience can still play an important role, however, both within local communities and within the broader diaspora of Pacific communities in Aotearoa-New Zealand, Australia, and the US. [...] Opportunities abound to improve social justice by resetting imbalances and inequities in disadvantaged communities. Innovative solutions to lower the cost of remittances to Pacific nations is one example of a practical improvement going forward. A better understanding of Pacific cultures from within and a better recognition of the role of the Pacific diaspora and of churches in Pacific communities would also help improve development efforts and disaster response."
East-West Center
Alefaio, Siautu
2020-09-04
