Protocol for development of a risk assessment tool for planning and management of religious mass-gathering events of India—a health system-strengthening initiative

Abstract

Background Religious mass gatherings (MGs) have always been an integral part of our society. At the outset, mass-gathering events provide challenging settings to plan a suitable emergency public health response. Published studies basically talk about retrospective reviews, case studies of the public health preparedness, or health care provided at individual events. Developing an understanding of the variables associated with MGs is the first step for public health managers. Risk assessment (RA) is a crucial part of pre-event planning as it helps foresee potential risks. Based on RA, one can develop preventive measures and ensure that the infrastructure to control the potential problems is in place. This study is an attempt to systemize RA process during MG events in a country that is culturally rich but with poor resources to handle such events. A RA tool will be developed for planning and management of religious MG events of India. Methods/design Various strategies will be used to develop the risk assessment tool (RA tool). Extensive review of literature clubbed with key informant interviews will be done in order to identify the risk variables and decide the domains and items of the tool. Further, this tool will be developed as a mobile-based application. The feasibility of the mobile-based RA tool will be tested in real-time MG event in one part of the country. Concurrently in the same event, a community survey of residents and visitors will be done in order to assess public perceptions of public health and environmental risks associated with MG events. Discussion The findings of this study will provide insights into the public health and environmental concerns that need to be considered if preventive strategies and intervention programs are to be designed for MG events. A “RA Tool,” which can be used in the planning and management of MG events by the public health managers will strengthen the existing health systems preparedness plans for MGs.

Mass Gathering Medicine in Soccer Leagues: A Review and Creation of the SALEM Tool

“…Nonetheless, it is still unclear how the tool can be applied in future sporting MG events [86]. Similar tools were also developed to mitigate the disease risk during MG events in India [87]. In the light of COVID-19 pandemic, The WHO and Cambridge County Council developed two risk assessment tools to assess the health risks during MG events in COVID-19 era.…”

Nursing teaching in emergency care in a mass event: Experience report

“…Those planned may include sporting, social, cultural, religious and political events. Examples include music festivals, Olympic Games; spontaneous by their nature are more difficult to plan and may include events such as funerals of religious and political figures, meetings of displaced populations due to natural disasters, conflicts and wars (3) .…”

“…It should be noted that, in this study, the terminology adopted by the Trauma Committee of the American College of Surgeons is used in order to standardize the terms used in the care of trauma victims in a universal way, namely: Incidents with Multiple Victims for the events with more than five victims and Events with Mass Victims when there are natural or man-made disasters, involving 20 or more victims (5) . It is considered that in this context, the public and private sectors should be able to host large events satisfactorily and, for this, they should follow the recommendations of WHO, with regard to the strengthening of disaster risk management systems and their reduction in three levels of government management (municipal, state and national), as well as capacity development and increased resilience of health systems when dealing with multiple victims (1,3) .…”

The Jeddah tool

“…Health Risk Assessment (HRA) tools developed and implemented in mass gatherings vary in their methodology and scope and are often event-specific and do not always use an all-hazard approach. 2 , 3 With the growing frequency, magnitude, and nature of mass gathering events worldwide, there is renewed interest in the development of standardized HRA tools specifically for mass gatherings. 3 …”

“… 2 , 3 With the growing frequency, magnitude, and nature of mass gathering events worldwide, there is renewed interest in the development of standardized HRA tools specifically for mass gatherings. 3 …”