In the US, there have been a lot of improvements in disaster management in the recent years. However, this may not be enough to lower the effect of natural calamities on causing disease and deaths. The US is in fact moving from enabling an early response to the disaster to creating an early warning system that could help prevent the disease. In no other part of the world is the surveillance system more advanced as in the US. In the Hawaiian islands, a surveillance and communication system exists to help provide signs of an earthquake or a tsunami.
This has specially been developed after the tsunami on Boxing Day which hit several countries in the Indian Ocean. This shows that preparedness and a disaster management system usually develops from past experiences (Pellerin, 2005). Following the 9-11 Attack, the disaster management plan that hospitals follow has been upgraded, as the chances of a manmade or natural disaster are realistic. The Accreditation organizations also ensure that all hospitals in the US have some sort of a disaster plan in place that could operate immediately and could effectively help reduce the causality rates.
Hospitals and healthcare organizations are frequently conducting drills and mock situations so that the standards of care provided during a real disaster situation are improved. After the September, 2001 attack, all the healthcare organizations had to seriously upgrade their disaster management plan and improve on it, as the earlier resources and strategies were not suitable to contain the casualties. Studies suggest that hospitals may not even be in a position to handle minor outbreak of diseases as these would create a lot of confusion in the system (Mattox, 2001).
The US is constantly facing threats of terrorism than any other country in the World. The Government should also be ready for a bioterrorism attack. Several diagnosing mechanism such as culture staining, antibiotic sensitivity tests should be made available even in the remote areas. The healthcare system should be prepared even to handle outbreaks of common illnesses, as in case of bioterrorism, such outbreaks would have dire consequences. Hospitals should prepare to handle the disasters or outbreaks within minutes.
It is a common observation that during an emergency situation, the number of physicians is excessive, but the number of nurses is deficient (Mattox, 2001). At the national and international level, there has been an observation that there has been a rise in the rate of natural and manmade disasters throughout the world and also in the US. The disasters are having a serious implication on human life, as more and more people are being affected with the disaster (Mattox, 2001). Patients at the disaster site often find it very difficult to get help.
Healthcare professionals may be helpless due to the shortage of staff and equipment whilst managing these patients. To some extent politicians have helped to improve the outcome of the disaster by increasing the funds allocated to disaster management and handling terrorist attacks. A better surveillance and communication system has also been laid down in several places to bring out an early warning. Importance is also given in some areas to help prevent a disaster (Pellerin, 2005).
The US has been looking at several global events in order to improve its surveillance system. Amongst these include the 2004 Asian Tsunami, the London Bomb attacks, the SARS outbreak in Asia in 2003, and the bird flu pandemic in 2006.
References:
AACN (2004). Nursing Shortage Fact Sheet, Retrieved on May 30, 2007, from AACN Web site: http://www. aacn. nche. edu/Media/Backgrounders/shortagefacts. htm Buerhaus, P. I. et al (2007). Impact of the Nurse Shortage On Hospital Patient Care: Comparative Perspectives, Health Affairs, 26(3), pp.
853-862. http://content. healthaffairs. org/cgi/reprint/26/3/853. pdf Bureau of Labor Statistics, U. S. Department of Labor (2005). Career Guide to Industries, 2006-07 Edition, Health Care, Retrieved from May 29, 2007 from USDL Web site: http://www. bls. gov/oco/cg/cgs035. htm Mattox, K. (2001). “The World Trade Center Attack Disaster preparedness: health care is ready, but is the bureaucracy? ”, Crit Care. 2001, 5(6), pp. 323–325. http://www. pubmedcentral. nih. gov/articlerender. fcgi? artid=137381