Improving Emergency Preparedness In The UK

Main Category: Aid / Disasters
Also Included In: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses;  Bio-terrorism / Terrorism;  Public Health
Article Date: 27 Mar 2013 - 0:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Improving Emergency Preparedness In The UK

Well designed and planned exercises are essential to ensure that the UK can respond effectively to emergencies of all kinds, according to research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The emergencies may take the form of a terrorist attack, flooding, pandemic flu, rail or air disaster - or any major disruptive event requiring an emergency response.

The number of such exercises taking place across the UK each year within what the researchers call the 'resilience community' - including emergency services, local authorities, central government departments and agencies, and many large commercial organisations - is probably in the thousands, according to Dr Ben Anderson from Durham University and Dr Peter Adey of Royal Holloway. And each exercise varies in scale, duration and complexity depending on its design and purpose.

The aim of the research was to generate new knowledge about how exercises are planned, designed and undertaken, particularly following the 2004 Civil Contingencies Act, and to learn from practitioners about how the planning and design of exercises might be improved.

Researchers interviewed emergency services nationwide and observed exercises directly and have subsequently created white papers and user guides indicating good practice in exercise design. These underline the importance of pre-exercise briefing to communicate the purpose, activities, roles and responsibilities of an exercise. They explain the value of focusing on the role of the key responders and those in leading positions in a multi-agency scenario.

They also highlight how thought cards, task cards and aide memoirs for key individuals will instil confidence and knowledge. Equally, the research suggests the effectiveness of the surprise element by introducing a 'no notice' exercise to test capabilities and they stress the use of realism, plausibility and building up a sense of excitement.

The research demonstrates that exercises have a number of valuable functions. They develop, test and validate plans, protocols and procedures, such as those involved when an emergency situation moves from the immediate response to the recovery phase. They test organisational forms and systematic routines, such as how to set up strategic coordinating groups providing leadership. They check the workability of communications networks and practices. Not least, they develop staff competences to have the ability to use a tactical plan and to make judgements under pressure.

Says Dr Anderson: "The learning and capabilities deriving from all forms of exercise make a massive but largely hidden contribution to the ability of the UK to respond to emergencies and ensure public wellbeing."

The researchers have also emphasised the value of exercises in achieving familiarisation with other organisations. This demands multi-agency collaboration and co-ordination, enabling staff and participants to build new relationships and trust with different working cultures. Dr Anderson comments: "Organisations involved in emergency planning and responses have different working styles, hierarchies and structures so that exercises will be challenging in different ways to all involved."

Dr Anderson says: "The informal interaction between individuals and groups afforded by exercises is also central to their value. In our white papers and user guides we indicate how and why maximum learning can be gained and retained from the design, planning and prosecution of exercises. Improved exercising will help local authorities and other organisations be better prepared for the range of emergencies they face"

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
Visit our aid / disasters section for the latest news on this subject. This release is based on the findings from 'Staging and Performing Emergencies: The Role of Exercises in UK Preparedness'. The research project was funded by the ESRC and carried out by researchers from Durham University, Royal Holloway and Newcastle University. The project involved a major dissemination event attended by 40 practitioners including members of local authorities, Police, Red Cross, MoD, the Home Office, the Government Decontamination Service and numerous Local Resilience Forums.
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Pandemic, Emergency Preparedness Lacking In Majority Of US Schools

Main Category: Flu / Cold / SARS
Also Included In: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses;  Bio-terrorism / Terrorism
Article Date: 19 Sep 2012 - 1:00 PST Current ratings for:
Pandemic, Emergency Preparedness Lacking In Majority Of US Schools

Many U.S. schools are not prepared for bioterrorism attacks, outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases or pandemics, despite the recent 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic that resulted in more than 18,000 deaths worldwide, Saint Louis University researchers say.

The study, led by Terri Rebmann, Ph.D., associate professor at SLU's Institute for Biosecurity, surveyed about 2000 nurses working in elementary, middle and high schools across 26 states. The findings reveal that only 48 percent of schools address pandemic preparedness and only 40 percent of schools have updated their plans since the 2009 H1N1 pandemic that spread illnesses in more than 214 countries.

"There is a lot of research that shows influenza spreads quickly in schools because it's a communicable disease and kids interact closely," Rebmann said. "Schools need to have a written pandemic plan in order to be prepared to put interventions into place quickly when an event occurs."

The study suggests that every school should review and update its pandemic preparedness plan annually and address gaps in infectious disease emergency planning. Schools also need to coordinate these plans with the local and regional disaster response agencies, and organize disaster drills and exercises, including holding drills that involve an infectious disease scenario.

Published in the American Journal of Infection Control, the study also found that 44 percent of schools do not participate in community surveillance that tracks the presence of a disease based upon symptoms reported by area residents. These efforts are coordinated through local public health departments that assess indicators of biological threats.

One reason for lack in participation is that many communities may not have a surveillance program that uses school data as an indicator, said Rebmann. Another reason is that several schools might share a nurse, which can lead to inconsistent, inaccurate or unreported data.

In order to have a regular and strong pandemic preparedness program, Rebmann suggests that school nurses should be involved in building and assessing the plan.

"Health care professionals can best inform school administrators about unique aspects of pandemic planning that need to be included in school disaster plans," she said. "Results from this study indicate that better prepared schools were ones that involved their nurses in the disaster planning committee. The school nurse is the best person in a school district to know about infection control and be able to make recommendations about the best interventions to implement during a biological event."

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
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Improving Emergency Radio Communications

Main Category: Public Health
Also Included In: Aid / Disasters;  Bio-terrorism / Terrorism
Article Date: 22 Apr 2013 - 0:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Improving Emergency Radio Communications

Radio communications can be unreliable in underground tunnels and other large, complicated structures, posing a safety hazard for emergency responders. New tests of wireless emergency safety equipment by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have defined the challenges more precisely and suggest how emergency communications might be improved.

In a series of experiments conducted in New York City, an epicenter of underground tunnels and high-rise buildings, NIST researchers measured path loss, or reduced signal strength, which can occur when signals must travel through thick walls and dense material. NIST researchers also found that wireless emergency beacons could be unreliable beyond the street-level stairwell entrance to a four-level subway station, and that signal strength depended on the frequency used in the 100-story Empire State Building. The findings are detailed in a new report.*

"The systems we tested generally operated successfully as long as path loss did not exceed the threshold specified in standards just adopted in November," project leader Kate Remley says.** "But the path losses we measured throughout these structures were generally much higher than the threshold. This means that repeaters or other technology to rebroadcast signals should be used in these and other similar environments, and standards must be extended to these higher-loss cases."

The study is part of an ongoing NIST project, launched in 2008, supporting the development of performance metrics and laboratory tests for electronic safety equipment with two-way radio-frequency (RF) transmission capabilities. The New York tests focused on RF-based personal alert safety systems (RF-PASS), used by firefighters as distress beacons, but the test methods and path-loss results are applicable to other wireless devices such as handheld radios.

NIST tested four commercial RF-PASS systems operating in three frequency bands: 450 megahertz (MHz), 902 to 928 MHz, and 2.4 gigahertz. Researchers measured whether a firefighter-down signal was received by a base station outside the subway or building, and whether a portable RF-PASS unit inside the structure received an evacuation signal from the base station, within 30 seconds, given a certain amount of path loss.

In the subway, communication was poor beyond the entrance unless a repeater was located underground on the pay-station floor. In that case signals could be sent between the street level and the first passenger platform, but not to or from the second passenger level farther below, suggesting the need for a multi-hop repeater relay system. In the Empire State Building, NIST researchers found that path losses increased with RF-PASS operating frequency, and that only one of four systems tested communicated successfully without repeaters over most of the building test locations.

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
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The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) recently incorporated NIST's initial RF-PASS test methods into its first standards for RF-based electronic safety equipment.** Until now, the NFPA could not certify RF-based PASS devices, which represent a significant advance in safety because of the addition of the RF transceiver. The NFPA adoption means these NIST methods will be implemented by testing laboratories as part of the NFPA certification process for RF-PASS devices. The New York City tests support NIST's next round of test methods, which will include tests for reliable voice radio and emergency beacon operations in higher path-loss environments.

The NIST tests, conducted with the help of the Fire Department of New York, were funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

* William F. Young, Kate A. Remley, Galen Koepke, Dennis Camell, Jacob Healy. 2012. Performance Analysis of RF-based Electronic Safety Equipment in a Subway Station and the Empire State Building, NIST Technical Note 1792. Available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.6028/NIST.TN.1792

** In the 2013 revision of NFPA 1982: Standard on Personal Alert Safety Systems, the point-to-point path-loss threshold is 100 decibels. The National Fire Protection Association incorporated NIST's initial RF-PASS test methods into these revised standards.

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

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