Back to Annual Meeting

Back to Annual Meeting

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Richard Thomas, PhD, Center for Health Services Research, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, 66 N. Pauline, Suite 463, Memphis, TN 38163, 901-278-2210, rthomas5@midsouth.rr.com

Since the terrorist attack in September of 2001, disaster preparedness has become an issue of growing importance in the United States. Although there are many dimensions to disaster planning, the healthcare component certainly takes on extraordinary importance. Despite the heightened appreciation of the need to prepare for and respond to the variety of disasters and emergencies that could face the U.S. population, analyses by a variety of organizations continue to report significant gaps in the preparedness planning effort. Among the gaps are a lack of resource inventories, limited ability to profile potentially affected populations, a lack of vertical and horizontal integration, and the absence of continuity in implementation of programs. Even as the investment in disaster preparedness has increased, these issues have become increasingly problematic. Virtually all of the barriers to effective disaster preparedness can be addressed through the application of health planning principles. This paper will provide an overview of the application of health planning approaches to disaster preparedness and demonstrate the ways in which identified deficiencies can be addressed. This overview will set the stage for the remainder of the presentations in the session.

Learning Objectives:

• 1. Participants will become familiar with the issues in disaster preparedness that have a planning dimension.
• 2. Participants will become familiar with the aspects of health planning that have application to disaster preparedness.
• 3. Participants will be able to approach disaster preparedness armed with a useful model.

Keywords: Disasters, Planning

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation