| Exercises in emergency preparedness for health professionals in community clinics. | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 20146093 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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Health professionals in community settings are generally unprepared for disasters. From 2006 to 2008 the California Statewide Area Health Education Center (AHEC) program conducted 90 table top exercises in community practice sites in 18 counties. The exercises arranged and facilitated by AHEC trained local coordinators and trainers were designed to assist health professionals in developing and applying their practice site emergency plans using simulated events about pandemic influenza or other emergencies. Of the 1,496 multidisciplinary health professionals and staff participating in the exercises, 1,176 (79%) completed learner evaluation forms with 92-98% of participants rating the training experiences as good to excellent. A few reported helpful effects when applying their training to a real time local disaster. Assessments of the status of clinic emergency plans using 15 criteria were conducted at three intervals: when the exercises were scheduled, immediately before the exercises, and for one-third of sites, three months after the exercise. All sites made improvements in their emergency plans with some or all of the plan criteria. Of the sites having follow up, most (N = 23) were community health centers that made statistically significant changes in two-thirds of the plan criteria (P = .001-.046). Following the exercises, after action reports were completed for 88 sites and noted strengths, weaknesses, and plans for improvements in their emergency plans Most sites (72-90%) showed improvements in how to activate their plans, the roles of their staff, and how to participate in a coordinated response. Challenges in scheduling exercises included time constraints and lack of resources among busy health professionals. Technical assistance and considerations of clinic schedules mitigated these issues. The multidisciplinary table top exercises proved to be an effective means to develop or improve clinic emergency plans and enhance the dialogue and coordination among health professionals before an emergency happens. |
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Authors:
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Virginia Fowkes; H John Blossom; Christian Sandrock; Brenda Mitchell; Kendra Brandstein |
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Publication Detail:
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Type: Journal Article; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S. |
Journal Detail:
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Title: Journal of community health Volume: 35 ISSN: 1573-3610 ISO Abbreviation: J Community Health Publication Date: 2010 Oct |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2010-10-11 Completed Date: 2010-11-24 Revised Date: - |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 7600747 Medline TA: J Community Health Country: Netherlands |
Other Details:
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Languages: eng Pagination: 512-8 Citation Subset: IM |
Affiliation:
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Division of Family Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, 1215 Welch Rd, Palo Alto, CA 94305, USA. vfowkes@stanford.edu |
Export Citation:
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APA/MLA Format Download EndNote Download BibTex |
| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
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California Civil Defense / organization & administration* Community Health Services / organization & administration* Disaster Planning / organization & administration* Follow-Up Studies Health Personnel / education* Humans Interprofessional Relations Program Evaluation |
| Grant Support | |
ID/Acronym/Agency:
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TO1HP001405//PHS HHS |
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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