Emergency Preparedness and Response in Community Healthcare Setting

Emergency Preparedness and Response in Community Healthcare Setting

The Events at the Neighborhood

The case is about a forest fire in a neighborhood, which has not been contained so far. The fire has been causing trouble for five days, and according to the city officials, the fire does not poses danger to the lives of people. On the other hand, the health care authorities are struggling with the patients, as patients are having breathing problems. People diagnosed with lung problems are suffering the most. The city officials have told people to remain in homes.

The Middle School in the Neighborhood has arranged a science fair where students will multiply science project. Ironically, school has asked community members to attend the science fair, while the city officials and healthcare workers are asking people to stay inside homes.

One patient, Cecelia, has osteoarthritis. She needs to take rest and walk less. Her husband, Jimmy has emphysema and due to this problem, he becomes short of breath after doing activities. Emphysema is a medical condition where patients are unable to breathe properly due to damaged lungs. Cecelia goes to Laundromat with her daughter, her dryer is broken and Jimmy does not want to go and fix it due to fire smoke.

Actions of Health Care Workers

Karen is a geriatric nurse working at nursing clinic at Neighborhood senior centre. She is supported through city budget funds. Karen has analyzed many seniors, who are facing difficulties due to smoke from fire. She has also advised patients to remain inside homes. Another nurse, Kate Swanson, is working at Neighborhood hospital. The intensive care unit is full of patients diagnosed with asthma and emphysema due to fire smoke. Emergency department is short on beds and they have not been provided with new ones. As a result, there is too much pressure on staff and morale of staff is also low.

The Role the Public Health Care Teams in Emergency Preparedness

In order to tackle healthcare emergencies, PHEPR (Public health emergency preparedness and response) is a system developed for such situations. PHEPR involves developing actions to prevent possibility of emergencies through development of plans to ensure appropriate response and recovery of situations. Health care teams are the most vital part of Public health emergency preparedness and response system. Therefore, it is must that these teams remain aware of any rising emergency situation. These teams play an important role in transmitting Health Care Provider (HCP) information to public health authorities. However, their primary role is to be a first source of response for public health care issues and emergencies (Carmona, 2010).

Preparedness includes planning, equipping, exercising and training. Most of the health care teams develop their own disaster plans; however, on many occasions, these plans are not up to date. Sometimes, Health care teams are reluctant in executing plans due to lack of authority and training. This compromises emergency response mechanism. This requires drafting of clear plan and all situations in which plan should be ...