Are We Ready for Mass Fatality Incidents? Preparedness of the US Mass Fatality Infrastructure.
Disaster Med Public Health Prep
; 10(1): 87-97, 2016 Feb.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-26708604
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
To assess the preparedness of the US mass fatality infrastructure, we developed and tested metrics for 3 components of preparedness organizational, operational, and resource sharing networks.METHODS:
In 2014, data were collected from 5 response sectors medical examiners and coroners, the death care industry, health departments, faith-based organizations, and offices of emergency management. Scores were calculated within and across sectors and a weighted score was developed for the infrastructure.RESULTS:
A total of 879 respondents reported highly variable organizational capabilities 15% had responded to a mass fatality incident (MFI); 42% reported staff trained for an MFI, but only 27% for an MFI involving hazardous contaminants. Respondents estimated that 75% of their staff would be willing and able to respond, but only 53% if contaminants were involved. Most perceived their organization as somewhat prepared, but 13% indicated "not at all." Operational capability scores ranged from 33% (death care industry) to 77% (offices of emergency management). Network capability analysis found that only 42% of possible reciprocal relationships between resource-sharing partners were present. The cross-sector composite score was 51%; that is, half the key capabilities for preparedness were in place.CONCLUSIONS:
The sectors in the US mass fatality infrastructure report suboptimal capability to respond. National leadership is needed to ensure sector-specific and infrastructure-wide preparedness for a large-scale MFI.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Avaliação de Programas e Projetos de Saúde
/
Defesa Civil
/
Incidentes com Feridos em Massa
/
Política de Saúde
Tipo de estudo:
Evaluation_studies
Limite:
Humans
País/Região como assunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2016
Tipo de documento:
Article