Handling a Public Health Emergency (Essay Sample)

Public Health Preparedness: A Proposal Report for Handling a Public Health Emergency Resulting From a Terrorist Threat
Name
Institution
A Proposal Report for Handling a Public Health Emergency Resulting From a Terrorist Threat
Introduction
Public health preparedness for emergency response is one of the most important virtues in the management of a public health facility. As a leader of a public health institution, one ought to have outstanding emergency preparedness and response policies that can ensure the organization attains is objectives of safeguarding the health of people in case of an emergency that can have a magnitude of harmful health effects to the society (CDC, 2013). Public health preparedness for emergency response is crucial as it can help in saving human lives and protecting communities from possible health threats such as environmental or occupation threats and spread of diseases. For a hospital manager to have adequate health preparedness for an emergency such as a terrorism attack, one should adopt sufficient policies and strategies that would ensure of proper surveillance to detect and respond rapidly in case of the attack. This would demand that the manager considers the existing procedures related to the ten essential public health services in order to ensure the health institution sticks to its core roles of protecting the public health. The health care institution should have in place necessary arrangements of ensuring its patients are continuously evaluated during the emergency as a way to ensure accessibility, effectiveness, and quality of health care services advanced to patients (CDC, 2013). Proper measures should also be taken to maintain the safety of the electronic medical record system during the emergency. To facilitate a smooth operation in the health care facility, taking an insurance cover is necessary to cover the institution during the event of the emergency. Although the emergency may pose many negative effects to the operation of the hospital, it is upon the manager to ensure they have in place considerable plans and policies to reduce the ability of such harmful effects from paralyzing the operations of the facility in providing health care services to the public (Ziskin and Harris, 2007). To handle a public health emergency resulting from a terrorist threat, as a new Vice President of quality and safety for a full-service 600-bed government healthcare organization, I would consider focusing on the existing procedures related to essential public health services, and set plans for continuing evaluation of patients during the emergency. I would further adopt appropriate measures to maintain the electronic medical record system, insure the organization with an insurance company, and implement suitable measures that would protect the operation of the institution from the possible undesirable effects on the emergency.
Examination of the Existing Procedures Related the Essential Public Health Services Would Affect My Hospital during the Emergency
Essential public health services are crucial owing to their provision of the guidelines through which a public health institution should assess, develop policies, and have in place the assurance plans for their continuous provision of quality health care services to communities during the time of an emergency. The services are designed to focus on the population health care needs, besides emphasizing on the promotion of ethical and professional health care services such as diseases prevention and other health care interventions for the public. Various procedures related to essential public health services, have different effects on the hospital during the emergency.
Monitor health status to identify community health problems
In this essential service, the hospital is mandated with identifying potential threats to public health. This calls for the assessment of all the environmental factors that could be adversely affected by the emergency, resulting to harmful effects to the public health. As the hospital Vice President, I would need to develop suitable plans for assessing the communities’ health needs and resources that could play important roles in ensuring the hospital responds appropriately to the emergency, in providing the necessary assistance people might need to safeguard their health and wellbeing. The hospital can identify the communities’ health problems through conducting public forums where people can actively participate in airing their views and concerns (The Community Tool Box, 2014). Surveys and interviews can be employed to facilitate the collection of information pertaining to people’s health problems. It would also be necessary for the hospital to determine how the communities are able to access and utilize the hospital health care services as a way to determine the special groups that have difficulties doing so. Through such endeavors, it would be easier to prioritize certain community health needs at the time of the emergency, thus facilitating the provision of the services that are most essential for the wellbeing of the community.
 Inform, educate, and empower people about health issues
This essential service demands that the hospital participate in educating the public about the possibilities of a health threat emergency and how, they should respond in time of the event (The Community Tool Box, 2014). Through such an initiative, communities are empowered to know their health situations and become aware about the possible things they should expect to affect their health situations. The hospital should communicate to the communities about what it is doing to ensure public health protection. This is important, as it would give the people the peace of mind knowing that everything is in place to safeguard their health needs during the emergency. The essential service requires that communities be educated about the possible health risks that can result from the emergency, and further be taught on the protective factors or strategies that each member should take during the time of the terrorism event (The Community Tool Box, 2014). To facilitate the process of informing, educating, and empowering the people about the health issue facing them, this can be done though the adoption of appropriate communication strategies, for instance, community presentations, communication through press such as the print media or online advertisements and news. Through such initiatives, the hospital would have easy time cooperating with the community in provision of the essential health needs during the time of the emergency.
Link people to needed personal health services and assure the provision of health care when otherwise unavailable
The essential service number seven emphasizes that during an emergency, it is important that a health care organization coordinate with other relevant health care stakeholders in reaching out for the disadvantaged groups in the society (The Community Tool Box, 2014). In this context, my hospital would ensure it has the required professionals to assist in the catering for the health needs of the disadvantaged groups in the communities with which we relate to. The initiative would focus on addressing the problems relating to social, economic, and political climate of the communities the hospital serves. Making arrangements of facilities and services such as transportation would be relevant in ensuring our health care services reache all the people who could be having some problems accessing the services. The hospitals would need to organize with other agencies on how to provide health care assurance to the various special groups in the communities. For instance, the hospital can help the elderly persons to secure Medicaid and poor children to secure Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which would cover for their medical expenses in case they are affected by any health threat during the emergency (The Community Tool Box, 2014). Such initiatives would allow the disadvantaged groups in the communities be able to access indiscriminatively various health care needs, which they would have otherwise not been in a position to.
Assure a competent public health and personal health care workforce.
For the hospital to be well prepared to respond appropriately to the health threat posed by the imminent terrorism attack, it is necessary for the institution to have in position the right professionals to help in facilitating the various initiatives the hospital intend to embark on in its preparation, to ensure the public health in not adversely affect in the event of the emergency. The essential service number nine stipulates that a public health organization should have enough and qualified health care professionals to facilitate the success of the community health initiatives meant to safeguard the health interest of the public during an emergency (The Community Tool Box, 2014). In this regard, my hospital would evaluate the different community health initiatives to determine their workforce needs. During the process, it would be necessary to communicate and request the participation of the communities’ leaders in helping developing the various plans needed to make the preparedness successful. The desired goals and outcomes should be set and evaluation plans, to determine the effectiveness of various initiatives, should be adopted to ensure all the processes go in accordance to the communities’ and organization’s objectives. Having qualified and skilled workforce would ensure that the hospitals initiatives are properly undertaken and evaluated to ensure effectiveness in protecting the health needs of the people during the emergency (The Community Tool Box, 2014).
The Importance of Continuing To Evaluate Patients, As Stipulated By the EmergencyMedical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA), During the Emerge...