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Planning and Practicing for a Disaster

AHRQ Public Health Emergency Preparedness Web Conference

February 9, 2009

In a natural or manmade disaster, a sudden surge of patients with diverse medical needs may cause health care facilities to reach capacity quickly and, in some cases, deplete available resources. To effectively manage mass medical care, health care facilities must allocate resources appropriately and, as necessary, evacuate patients. First, facilities must develop a plan and practice it.

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has developed a range of emergency preparedness planning tools, including free, interactive computer models. To showcase a few of the newer tools and their uses, AHRQ hosted a February Web conference, Public Health Emergency Preparedness: Planning and Practicing for a Disaster.

Web Conference

This event featured tool demonstrations by developers and insights from users. Presenters offered diverse perspectives on emergency planning and the use of the following AHRQ resources:

Plus, Web conference attendees saw a preview of the National Mass Patient and Evacuee Movement, Regulating, and Tracking System: Recommendations. This Web Conference bundled three AHRQ emergency preparedness tools together to show participants how they can complement each other when developing plans.

Emergency preparedness planners, as well as Federal, State, and local community health planners, providers, and first responders attended.

Select to access a recording of the Web Conference (Transcript; Frequently Asked Questions).

Select to access the slide presentation for the Web Conference (Powerpoint® slides, 6 MB; Text Version).

Note: To ensure that your computer meets the technical requirements to view the Webcast, go to: WebEx System Requirements.

Speakers

Tom Rich, Project Director, Abt Associates
Disaster Preparedness Tools: Hospital Surge Model and Mass Evacuation Transportation Model

F. Christy Music, Program Director, Health/Medical Preparedness and Response, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense & Americas' Security Affairs, Department of Defense
National Mass Patient and Evacuee Movement, Regulating, and Tracking System: Recommendations

Mollie Jenckes, Research Associate, Johns Hopkins University
Tool for Evaluating Core Elements of Hospital Disaster Drills

Cindy Notobartolo, Corporate Director of Emergency/Trauma, Safety & Security Service, Suburban Hospital, Bethesda, Maryland
A User's Perspective of Hospital Disaster Drills

Current as of May 2009

Internet Citation:

Planning and Practicing for a Disaster. AHRQ Web Conference, February 9, 2009. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/prep/planningprep/