Worldwide strategies for
managing medical disasters and
the necessity of designing and
operating a crisis center in
Cyprus Health Services
R.Constantinou RN, Bsc,MSc(c)
Cyprus Ambulance Services
ATLS-PHTLS-DSTC Cyprus Coordinator
‘‘Νext week cannot be any crisis.
My schedule is already full‘‘
Ηenry Kinssinger
Unfortunately disasters cannot be stop
The overall aim of a Disaster preparedness
management is to provide as rabidly as possible
the greadest benefit for the largest number of
casualties and to achieve a critical reduction in
morbility and mortality.
Disasters or large-scale casualty incidents
cannot be managed successfully by simply
extending the procedures and protocols
that apply as routine emergency.
VITAL TO HANE EMERGENCY
PLANS IN PLACE
CRISIS CENTER
• Emergency plans should be well designed in a well
organized crisis center. This appears to be the best
solution to deal with a situation where the lack of
personnel and overall logistics are presented.
• The recovery from a disaster should proceed in a
systematic and coordinated fashion in accordance
with
international
standards.
Countries
are
recommended to develop a Crisis center and
preparedness plans for managing fatalities following
disasters.
Disasters require a change in phylosophy
Coordination
Strategy
Crisis
Center
Knoweldge
Experience
Methodology
Interventions
Crisis Center for PPRR
Response
Recovery
Disaster
Prevention
Preparedness
• Distaster management is central to the mission of
European Union and other Countries such
Australia and USA. They provide disaster
preparedness, response and recovery services
which aim to reduce disaster risk alleviate
immediate suffering and improve recovery.
Not all countries have a national policy or guidelines
on emergency disaster management.
• World Health organization is the lead
agency for emergency preparedness and
response.
• 2010-2011 World Disaster Reduction
campaign- United Nation International
Strategy.
• 2005-2015 Buílding the resilience of
nations and communities to disaster.
WHO supports countries in building national
capacity in risk reduction and emergency
preparedness, and to assist the health sector
in Member States in reducing the adverse
public health consequences for communities
in terms of mortality, morbidity, disability and
damage to health care delivery services
resulting from emergencies, disasters and
other crises.
Strategy
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Multi-agency
Multi-sectoral
Multi-disciplinary
All-hazard
Risk management
Disaster Risk Reduction
Emergency preparedness
Cyprus
• European Country
• Has a key role in the
Mediteranean
2011 still without a Crisis Center
In Public Health Services
Local Disaster Plans is not the
solution in a Crisis!!!!!!!!!
•
•
•
•
Estia
Egelados
Maleas
Hospitals Emergency plans
Why ??
Is there a necessity of
designing and
operating a crisis center in
Cyprus Health Services
Health professionals have the
ANSWER !!!
Aim
• The aim of the research was to
explore the knoweldge and
preparedness skills of Medical
Doctors and Nurses in Cyprus
Emergency Departments for disaster
management.
Sample and methods
• The sample consisted of 228 health care
professionals from 7 hospitals of Cyprus.
• A structured questionnaire has been
developed to assess the preparedness of
the Health professionals for the Disasters
management.
• 350 questionnaires distributed
• 228 questionnaires have been collected
between April to May of 2011
The selection criteria for persons of the
sample were:
• Health professionals (doctor-Nurses) in
Emergency Departments.
• Cyprus public hospitals employees.
• Willingness to participate in the research.
Statistical analysis
• All the items were coded and scored, and the completed
questionnaires were included in the data analysis set.
Software IBM-SPSS 19 was used to analyse the data. The
chi-square test statistic was used to explore the existence of
a statistically significant relationship between categorical
variables.
• The t-test has been used to assess whether the means of
two groups are statistically different from each other.
• The Paired-Samples T Test procedure compares the means
of two variables that represent the same group at different
times or related groups. Values less than 0.05 were
considered statistically significant, unless otherwise stated.
• Chi-squared test was used to compare categorical variables.
Table 1
Percentages of men and women who have
participated in the research
Table 2
Participating Hospitals
Table 5
Define triage ?
Table 7
In case of Disaster–massive loss do you know what is your
action-role according to the local disaster plan?
Table 8
In case of disaster do you know who is the
official contact person?
Table 9
In case of mass infective accident is there any
protective equipment in your Hospital?
Table 15
Do you feel ready to manage a disaster with
massive losses ?
Table 17
Do you know how you should make your emergency
contacts in case of telecommunications disconnection?
Table 17
What is the meaning of the definition ‘‘red zone‘‘ in
disasters ?
Conclusions
• Lack of knowledge for the management of a
crisis
• A gap between the top management authorities
and the staff for emergency disaster
management
• Lack of information about the guidelines and
the equipment
• No experience on the preparedness of a
disaster
• No official authority in the Ministry of Health for
the management of a crisis
Goals of designing and operating a
crisis center in Cyprus Health Services
•
•
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•
•
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Reseach/Knoweldge Management
Policy and Governance
Disaster Risk Assesement
Disaster Mitigation
Disaster Preparedness
Disaster Response
Disaster Recovery
Post-disaster assesment
Goverments are responsible for the
protection and preservation for the
lives of citizens, and exercise control
over most of the functions essential
for effective emergency-disaster
management.
Its time for a
different philosophy…………
Resources
•
Community Emergency Preparedness, a manual for Managers and Policy
makers, WHO Geneva 1999,ISBN 92 4 154519 4.
•
World Disasters Report 2010,International federation of Red Cross and
•
WHO Reduction and Emergency preparedness ,Who six-year Strategy for
•
International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, ISDR 2009.
•
Disaster Preparedness 2nd edition ,Randolph Kent DHA 1994.
•
Queensland state Disaster management plant, Queensland government
•
Principles of Disaster Management ,Peter Aitken at al.
Red Crescent Societies 2010.
the health sector and community capasity development , 2007.
2003.
Thank you for your attention