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CDC’s Multiple Approaches to Safeguard the Health, Safety, and Resilience of Ebola Responders
- Richard W. Klomp, Laurie Jones, Emi Watanabe, William W. Thompson
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- Journal:
- Prehospital and Disaster Medicine / Volume 35 / Issue 1 / February 2020
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 10 December 2019, pp. 69-75
- Print publication:
- February 2020
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Over 27,000 people were sickened by Ebola and over 11,000 people died between March of 2014 and June of 2016. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC; Atlanta, Georgia USA) was one of many public health organizations that sought to stop this outbreak. This agency deployed almost 2,000 individuals to West Africa during that timeframe. Deployment to these countries exposed these individuals to a wide variety of dangers, stressors, and risks.
Being concerned about the at-risk populations in Africa, and also the well-being of its professionals who willingly deployed, the CDC did several things to help safeguard the health, safety, and resilience of these team members before, during, and after deployment.
The accompanying special report highlights innovative pre-deployment training initiatives, customized screening processes, and post-deployment outreach efforts intended to protect and support the public health professionals fighting Ebola. Before deploying, the CDC team members were expected to participate in both internally-created and externally-provided trainings. These ranged from pre-deployment briefings, to Preparing for Work Overseas (PFWO) and Public Health Readiness Certificate Program (PHRCP) courses, to Incident Command System (ICS) 100, 200, and 400 courses.
A small subset of non-clinical deployers also participated in a three-day training designed in collaboration with the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress (CSTS; Bethesda, Maryland USA) to train individuals to assess and address the well-being and resilience of themselves and their teammates in the field during a deployment. Participants in this unique training were immersed in a Virtual Reality Environment (VRE) that simulated deployment to one of seven different types of emergencies.
The CDC leadership also requested a pre-deployment screening process that helped professionals in the CDC’s Occupational Health Clinic (OHC) determine whether or not individuals were at an increased risk of negative outcomes by participating in a rigorous deployment at that time.
When deployers returned from the field, they received personalized invitations to participate in a voluntary, confidential, post-deployment operational debriefing one-on-one or in a group.
Implementing these approaches provided more information to clinical decision makers about the readiness of deployers. It provided deployers with a greater awareness of the kinds of challenges they were likely to face in the field. The post-deployment outreach efforts reminded staff that their contributions were appreciated and there were resources available if they needed help processing any of the potentially-traumatizing things they may have experienced.
Impact of 2003 Power Outages on Public Health and Emergency Response
- James C. Kile, Stephen Skowronski, Mark D. Miller, Stephan G. Reissman, Victor Balaban, Richard W. Klomp, Dori B. Reissman, Hugh M. Mainzer, Andrew L. Dannenberg
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- Journal:
- Prehospital and Disaster Medicine / Volume 20 / Issue 2 / April 2005
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 28 June 2012, pp. 93-97
- Print publication:
- April 2005
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Introduction:
In 2003, a major power outage occurred in the midwest and northeast United States affecting some 50 million people. The power outages affected multiple systems in state and local municipalities and, in turn, affected public health.
Methods:Semi-structured interviews were conducted using open-ended questionnaires, with a convenience sample of state- and locally selected subject matter experts from Ohio, Michigan, and New York. Respondents were interviewed in groups representing one of five areas of interest, including: (1) emergency preparedness; (2) hospital and emergency medical services; (3) municipal environmental systems; (4) public health surveillance and epidemiology; and (5) psychosocial and behavioral issues. The reported positive and negative impacts of the power outage on public health, medical services, and emergency preparedness and response were documented. Responses were categorized into common themes and recommendations were formulated.
Results:The amount of time that the respondents' locations were without power ranged from <1 hour to 52 hours. Many common themes emerged from the different locations, including communications failures, alternate power source problems, manpower and training issues, and psychosocial concerns. There was minimal morbidity and mortality reported that could be attributed to the event.
Conclusion:Power outages negatively impacted multiple municipal infrastructures, and affected medical services, emergency response, and public health efforts. Previous federal funding positively impacted public health and emergency response capabilities. Recommendations were made based upon the common themes identified by the respondents.
Recommendations may assist state and local health departments, medical service providers, and emergency responders in planning for future power outage problems.
2 - Factors in the development of community resilience to disasters
- Edited by Michael Blumenfield, New York Medical College, Robert J. Ursano, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Maryland
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- Book:
- Intervention and Resilience after Mass Trauma
- Published online:
- 14 January 2010
- Print publication:
- 01 January 2000, pp 49-68
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Summary
Introduction
Terrorist incidents and severe natural disasters have focused concern on preparedness and response activities to enhance psychological and social adjustment in the aftermath of extreme events and to minimize maladaptation over time. Borrowing from a growing body of work describing the characteristics that promote resilience in individuals, the concept of community resilience has emerged as a community-level construct to foster individual, family, and community adaptation. The likelihood of unanticipated terrorist events and the possibility of massive infrastructure destruction associated with major disasters increase the importance of community resilience strategies.
Relatively little is known about what constitutes a resilient community or about the factors, conditions, and processes that promote it. In this paper, we (1) describe the construct of community resilience in the context of disasters, (2) propose a set of contributing factors, (3) identify potential barriers, and (4) make recommendations for enhancing community resilience. The paper does not constitute a formal review of the literature on community resilience.
Definitions
A discussion of community resilience requires consensus in our understanding of several key terms including “community,” “disaster,” and “resilience.”
Community
The notion of community has been widely discussed in both the social science and health literatures (Cohen, 2003; Institute of Medicine, 2003; Jewkes and Murcott, 1996). Depending on context, a variety of conceptualizations and components have been described. Traditionally, a community refers to people, organizations, structures, and systems in close geographic proximity and with physical boundaries and borders (e.g., a town).