The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identifies 15 core capability standards for public health institutions to implement for improving their emergency preparedness models. Emergency operations coordination is the third capability, comprising of five key elements the institution should perform. The five components are:
• Conduct a preliminary assessment to determine the need for public activation • Activate public health emergency operations • Develop an incident response strategy • Manage and sustain the public health response • Demobilize and evaluate public health emergency operations (CDC, 2019).
The hospital’s ability to provide health care to the community is essential in most disaster circumstances. Effective coordination ensures hospitals, incident management, and the public have the pertinent, up-to-date information and allows for a swifter action to provide the necessary care to the public. A lack of coordination, in both the planning process and the response activity, impact patient care. This preplanning inefficiency delays potential evacuations, funding, resources, and adequate logistics to provide the appropriate care needed during the disaster response phase (Chen et al., 2008).
