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317834
NATO Summit 2014: Public health planning and response


Wednesday, November 4, 2015 : 8:30 a.m. - 8:45 a.m.

Quentin Sandifer, Dr., Public Health Services, Public Health Wales, Cardiff. CF11 9LJ, Wales
Marion Lyons, Dr., Public Health Wales, UK, Cardiff, United Kingdom
Audio (mp3) recording Recorded Presentation (mp4)
The 2014 NATO summit was held at the Celtic Manor Resort near Newport in South Wales on 4 and 5 September 2014. It was attended by the 28 member countries in NATO at three levels: Head of Government, Foreign Secretary and Defence Secretary. Also attending were 30+ International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and partner countries at Head of Government and Foreign Secretary level. The police led security operation therefore included over 150 protected people accompanied by up to 10,000 support staff and 1,200 media hence the UK Cabinet Office description of the event as "the largest gathering of international leaders to take place in Britain".

Planning for a period of two weeks (week before and week after the summit), Public Health Wales worked with local health service providers to:

  • Provide enhanced infectious disease and health surveillance.
  • Review, exercise and put in place outbreak and major incident response capability.
  • Devise a model of care for managing health needs of VIPs and other delegates attending or involved with the conference, as well police and protestors.
  • Assess and make plans for the impact on local health service delivery and ensure continuity of usual service provision.

Planning for the event lasted seven months and the operational phase lasted three weeks. The Summit was a public relations triumph for Wales. The public health legacy has been comprehensive updating and testing of all of our emergency plans, strengthened working relationships with Government and enhancement of our reputational standing in health protection.

Learning Areas:

Administration, management, leadership
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Protection of the public in relation to communicable diseases including prevention or control
Provision of health care to the public

Learning Objectives:
Explain the public health planning necessary for an international governmental conference. Describe the challenges and opportunities in emergency planning for such a conference. Identify specific issues for public health organisations involved in planning for high profile international events.

Keyword(s): Emergency Preparedness, Leadership

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: As Executive Director of Public Health Services at Public Health Wales I am responsible for public health emergency planning in Wales.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 5055.0: Disaster Response and Emergency Preparedness