What is both fair and equitable? What is legally permissible? And how much of the total cost should be paid by the community at large? Those are but three of the difficult questions facing firefighters, EMS providers, and public officials as they seek to save lives, provide the public services traditionally expected, and keep costs from spiraling completely out of control.
The first priority of would-be "problem solvers" should be to find out, in as much detail as possible, exactly what the problem is. That is particularly true, it says here, in dealing with major and extremely complicated problems involving, and quite possibly jeopardizing, the continued good health of thousands of innocent victims of poisoned or contaminated food.
Modern communications systems are a marvel to behold - and to use. And they keep getting better, generation after generation. The only problem, though, is that they sometimes fail, for inexplicable reasons and at the worst possible times. Which is why a backup system (pen and paper, perhaps?) is still mandatory. And always will be.
The old tailor's maxim - "Measure twice; cut once" - is also a suitable approach to the writing of an all-hazards Emergency Operations Plan for a health department. Here is a comprehensive and easy-to-follow guide to the planning, writing, reviewing, and approval processes necessary to the drafting, development, and dissemination of an effective and workable EOP.
The four keys to maintaining and improving the nation's public health and emergency preparedness, according to HSPD-21 and other policy directives, are improved capabilities in bio-surveillance, countermeasures distribution, mass-casualty care, and community resilience. Considerable progress has been made in upgrading the first three of those essential "components" – but the term "resilience" is still not very well understood, neither by national decision-makers nor by the American people at large.
On one side of the scale is "probably less than one gram of anthrax." On the other side are an estimated six million doses of vaccine thrown away each year - as well as, quite possibly, the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent people. It says here that the cost/benefit ratio is very much on the side of the terrorists.
It is now well documented that members of the nation's armed forces who have been in combat later suffer from an extremely harmful aftereffect known as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. Many first responders face the same type of traumatic situations and display many of the same symptoms. What can/should be done about it? Your answers will help; please take the survey!
FEMA, the FBI, and the Secret Service have primary jurisdiction, appropriately, for the safety of National Special Security Events. But the literally life-or-death responsibilities of local medical and healthcare facilities and personnel mandates that they also are fully included in the long-range planning sessions preceding such events.
The shopping list for a typical marathon requires that a number of "comfort stations" be available - also some ambulances and EMS techs, plus police and/or volunteers to seal off and protect a mere 26 miles plus of roads, traffic circles, bridges, and other urban thoroughfares. So why not get some value-added responder training out of it as well?
Not surprisingly, almost all media coverage of MCI situations focuses on the incident itself, the innocent victims, and the heroism shown by EMS techs and other responders. Little if any attention is paid, though, to the mundane organizational and administrative tasks involved in establishing an effective, well trained, and exceptionally capable team of experienced professionals.
