Question

how might the public health professional implement system management of emergency response at the direct care level, and why would this be an important skill for the public health professional?

Answer 1

Ans) A Public Health emergency is defined as:

1) Communicable disease
- Except sexually transmitted disease
2) Contamination
- Caused or believed to be caused by bio-terrorism, an epidemic, or pandemic disease
3) Natural disaster
4) Chemical attack
- Or accidental release
5) Nuclear attack
6) Accident that poses a substantial risk
- Of a significant number of human fatalities or incidents of permanent or long-term disability

The 10 essential Public Health Services
1) Monitor Health Status
- To ID and solve community health problems

2) Diagnose and Investigate
- Health problems and health hazards in the community

3) Inform, educate and empower
- People about health issues

4) Mobilize community parterships
- To ID and solve health problems

5) Develop policies and plans
- That support individual and community health effors

6) Enforce laws and regulations
- That protect health and ensure safety

7) Link pople to needed personal health services
- Assure the provision of health care when otherwise unavailable

8) Assure a competnt public and personal health care workforce

9) Evaluate
- effectiveness, accessibility, and quality of personal and population based health services

10) Research
- For new insights and innovative solutions to health problems
Public health preparedness capabilities
1) Community preparedness
2) Community recovery
3) Emergency operations coordination
4) Fatality management
5) Mass care
6) Information sharing
7) Medical countermeasure dispensing
8) Medical material management and distribution**
9) Medical surge
10) Non-pharmaceutical interventions
11) Public health laboratory testing
12) PH surveillance and epidemiological investigation
13) Responder safety and health
14) Volunteer management

Preparedness and continuous quality improvement:

- Creating response plans
- Providing workforce development and training
- Conducting drills and exercises
- Evaluation of drills and exercises
- Response to real events
- ID corrective actions
- Revision of response plans

Role of public health in emergency preparedness:
- Educate, engage and mobilize the public so people can be full and active participants in public health emergency preparedness. Epidemiology functions.

- Maintain and improve the systems to monitor, detect and investigate potential hazards, particularly those that are environmental, radiological, toxic or infectious.

Emergency preparedness is that aspect of public health designed to ensure sustained public health and medical readiness in the event of an emergency, minimize the impact of emergencies on affected communities, and foster safe and healthful environments before, during, and after an emergency thus an Important skill.