Hospital bioterrorism preparedness linkages with the community: Improvements over time

Planning for Pandemic Influenza: Lessons from the Experiences of Thirteen Indiana Counties

“…Likewise, the problems of coordination, oversight, and shared procedures, while disturbing, are no different than those experienced in Ontario during the 2002 SARS epidemic (Cameron, Schull, and Cooke 2006), Arkansas in applying bioterrorism preparedness protocols to a recent pertussis outbreak (Wheeler et al 2004), or those reported in other studies of emergency preparedness, where similar trends in improved planning are also seen. (Braun et al 2006;Braun et al 2004) This study found smaller, more rural areas less prepared and less capable of responding to a pandemic, likewise similar to other findings. (Manley et al 2006) This project began with the goal of developing a planning template for the use of alternate, non-hospital care sites to expand hospital surge capacity.…”

“…(Lester and Krecji 2007) Recent national surveys have found that emergency planning and coordination between hospitals and other emergency partners is not robust and leaves room for improvement. (Braun et al 2004;Braun et al 2006) As an example, the response to a pertussis outbreak in Arkansas in [2001][2002] was hampered by a lack of cooperation between providers and public health personnel. (Wheeler et al 2004) To date, most work on pandemic preparedness has focused on a top-down approach, using questionnaires based on expert views to assess needs rather than evaluating preparedness based on needs as viewed from the hospital and local health department/emergency planning level.…”

An analysis of the current status of hospital emergency preparedness for infectious disease outbreaks in Beijing, China

“…23 It would be unreasonable or inappropriate to expect all hospitals in Beijing to have the same level of preparedness for infectious diseases. 24 However, infectious diseases do not respect our hospitals' classification system. Therefore, a minimum preparedness requirement (eg, emergency plan, staff, beds, drugs, and equipment) for infectious diseases of public health significance should be applied to all types of hospitals.…”

Hospital infectious disease emergency preparedness: A survey of infection control professionals

“…Similar to previously published research, this study indicates that most U.S. hospitals have a disaster plan that is coordinated with other agencies, have appropriate infection control representation on their disaster planning committee, have around-the-clock access to infection control consultation, and are participating in various types of disaster exercises. 6,7 Although many ICPs report that their hospital has a plan for surge capacity and that this plan is coordinated with local/regional plans, a significant proportion of hospitals (approximately 20%) do not have a plan for surge capacity. This identified lack of a surge capacity plan is similar to previously published literature.…”

“…In addition, previously published studies have grouped hospital preparedness by region, 5 state, 6,8 or as an aggregate sample. 7 No published articles report hospital preparedness in relation to bed size.…”