Objectives: Since 9/11, Incident Command System (ICS) and Emergency Operations Center (EOC) are relatively new concepts to public health, which typically operates using less hierarchical and more collaborative approaches to organizing staff. This paper describes the 2009 H1N1 influenza outbreak in San Diego County to explore the use of ICS and EOC in public health emergency response. Methods: T...

OBJECTIVE Recent school shootings and terrorist events have demonstrated the need for well-coordinated planning for school-based mass-casualty events. The objective of this study was to document the preparedness of public schools in the United States for the prevention of and the response to a mass-casualty event. METHODS A survey was mailed to 3670 school superintendents of public school dis...

The catastrophic 2005 hurricane season alerted Americans to the need for a more effective response to mass casualty incidents. To address the needs of the nephrology community, the Kidney Community Emergency Response Coalition (KCERC) was formed, with representatives from more than 50 governmental agencies and private organizations. After completing phase 1 of its work, the KCERC issued recomme...

Following a major pilchard (Sardinops sagax) mortality event in 1995, Australia recognised the need for a national approach to aquatic animal health, particularly with respectto disease response. Cooperation between industry and government led to the development of AQUAPLAN, Australia's National Strategic Plan for Aquatic Animal Health. Under AQUAPLAN, institutional arrangements for the nationa...

OBJECTIVES Recent events have reiterated the need for well-coordinated planning for mass-casualty events, including those that involve children. The objective of this study was to document the preparedness of prehospital emergency medical services agencies in the United States for the care of children who are involved in mass-casualty events. METHODS A national list of all licensed prehospita...

with the development of deregulated power systems and increase of prices in some hours of day and increase fuel price, demand response programs were noticed more by customers. demand response consists of a series of activities that governments or utilities design to change the amount or time of electric energy consumption, to achieve better social welfare or some times for maximizing the benefi...

A malignant hyperthermia (MH) crisis is a medical emergency. To give the patient the best possible chance for a successful outcome, a swift, coordinated, multidisciplinary team response is necessary. Malignant hyperthermia occurs infrequently and, as such, details about its diagnosis, treatment, and management must be reviewed and reinforced during periodic education sessions. An MH response pl...

BACKGROUND The Interstate 35W Bridge in Minneapolis collapsed into the Mississippi River on August 1, 2007, killing 13 people and injuring 127. METHODS This article describes the emergency medical services response to this incident. RESULTS/DISCUSSION Complexities of the event included difficult patient access, multiple sectors of operation, and multiple mutual-aid agencies. Patient evacuat...

This paper explores the design of training environments in which emergency response professionals can use information technologies to train for responding to unplanned-for situations. This approach—designing for improvisation—is fundamentally different than designing for plan execution. In this paper, we identify three dimensions of this difference and outline a set of research questions that a...

If not handled quickly and effectively, animal health emergencies can create significant problems for governments and industry. Placing strong emphasis on preventing a disease incursion in the first instance through the judicious use of quarantine and inspection measures will continue to be the major preventive strategy. However, the discovery of new and emerging diseases, some of which may alr...