Book of Abstracts 2013 - Australian and New Zealand Disaster ...

disasters always involve a portion of unpredicted or unidentified risks. This paper, which is conceptual in nature, looks
at ways of preparing to those unforeseen risks to which the population will inevitably be exposed in case of a disaster.
This study addresses also the risk that the population might not behave according to predefined emergency
management plans, as it was the case in the Italian cruise ship or in the Fukushima disasters. The integration of ad-hoc
traditional approaches and systemic methods is stated to be the key to increased community resilience. The former can
give a generally valid framework to behave in case of a disaster while the latter can build sustainable resilience. The
theory behind this is that a connected community is more likely to be able to thrive in an environment of
unpredictability and surprise than one in which people do not know each other. For this reason, in a systemic approach,
the population is considered in the network of individual members. Starting from the community and preceding
towards hazard leaders, this study aims to support disaster preparedness agencies, such as the Australian Red Cross
and local councils, to hand-tailor their approaches depending on the realistic potential of the community to apply
disaster preparedness principles.
Dr Chan Kim Chai
Tan Tock Seng Hospital
Key points of a hospital business continuity plan for an epidemic: lessons from the SARS and
H1N1 outbreaks
Having experienced the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreaks in 2003 and the H1N1 flu pandemic in
2009, we have identified the following key points that need to be considered, during business continuity planning for a
hospital, in the event of an infectious disease outbreak:
(1) Involvement of all stack holders both within and without the hospital
(2) Have a clear leadership, and command and control structure at the hospital, regional and national levels
(3) Capacity building:
a. space- plans to expand space for critical hospital operations, or consider the use of alternate sites
b. stuff- stockpiles of critical medical equipment, personal protective equipment and relevant medications;
plans to engage vendors and alternate suppliers early
c. staff- training, deployment plan, strategies to cope with manpower shortages, system to ensure staff welfare
and well being
(4) Infection control measures: these should be already be implemented during daily hospital operation but can be
ramped up during an outbreak. Important components include security of all hospital access points, screening for
infective cases, isolation measures, personal protection for all clinical and nonclinical staff, and registration processes
to allow for contact tracing.
(5) Access to clinical laboratories with the capability to formulate and perform rapid screening tests for emergent
pathogens, 24 hours daily.
(6) Establish channels of communication within and without the hospital
(7) Consider planning for dedicated transport services for infective cases
(8) Surveillance measures for staff, hospital patients, at the community and immigration entry points
Above all, be flexible as each outbreak is unique; plans need to be tweaks in response to the actual ground situations.