RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to test the ability of the St Louis County Department of Health to efficiently dispense medication to individuals with functional needs during a public health emergency and develop new guidelines for future emergency planning. Historically, people with functional needs have been vulnerable in emergency situations, and emergency planners are responsible for creating equal access for mass prophylaxis events. METHODS: Measures to create access for individuals with functional needs were tested in a countywide exercise in which 40 volunteers with functional needs walked through an open point of dispensing location to collect medication as if it were a real emergency. Actions were informed by representatives from the functional needs community in the St Louis area. RESULTS: During the exercise, medications were successfully dispensed to all participants. Many participants offered feedback for future program design. CONCLUSIONS: Outcomes indicated the importance of working closely with the community organizations that serve people with functional needs in designing appropriate response measures, providing sensitivity training to staff members, employing useful technology, and using visual and verbal cues. The lessons learned from this exercise apply to emergency planning nationwide, as planning efforts for persons with functional needs still lag significantly.(Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2014;0:1-9).
Assuntos
Pessoas com Deficiência/legislação & jurisprudência , Planejamento em Desastres/normas , Serviços Médicos de Emergência/normas , Pessoal de Saúde/educação , Acessibilidade aos Serviços de Saúde/legislação & jurisprudência , Avaliação das Necessidades , Medicamentos sob Prescrição/provisão & distribuição , Bioterrorismo , Quimioprevenção/métodos , Quimioprevenção/estatística & dados numéricos , Barreiras de Comunicação , Deficiências do Desenvolvimento , Pessoas com Deficiência/estatística & dados numéricos , Planejamento em Desastres/métodos , Planejamento em Desastres/organização & administração , Serviços Médicos de Emergência/estatística & dados numéricos , Pessoal de Saúde/normas , Acessibilidade aos Serviços de Saúde/estatística & dados numéricos , Humanos , Capacitação em Serviço , Idioma , Missouri , Limitação da Mobilidade , Avaliação de Programas e Projetos de Saúde , Voluntários , Recursos HumanosRESUMO
This report outlines practical lessons learnt from an influenza-like outbreak in an aged-care facility in NSW, which affected 26 residents, resulted in 14 hospital admissions and was associated with six deaths. No common causative agent was identified. Key recommendations include: encouraging aged-care facilities to establish mechanisms that improve the early identification of outbreaks and timely implementation of outbreak control strategies; identifying strategies to inform general practitioners of outbreaks if they have patients residing in aged-care facilities; and improving the vaccination coverage of the aged-care workforce.