Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Definition and Functions of Health Unified Command and Emergency Operations Centers for Large-scale Bioevent Disasters Within the Existing ICS

2007; Cambridge University Press; Volume: 1; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1097/dmp.0b013e3181583d66

1938-744X

Frederick M. Burkle, Edbert B. Hsu, Michael Loehr, Christian Sandrock, David Markenson, Lewis Rubinson, Frank Archer,

Bacillus and Francisella bacterial research

The incident command system provides an organizational structure at the agency, discipline, or jurisdiction level for effectively coordinating response and recovery efforts during most conventional disasters. This structure does not have the capacity or capability to manage the complexities of a large-scale health-related disaster, especially a pandemic, in which unprecedented decisions at every level (eg, surveillance, triage protocols, surge capacity, isolation, quarantine, health care staffing, deployment) are necessary to investigate, control, and prevent transmission of disease. Emerging concepts supporting a unified decision-making, coordination, and resource management system through a health-specific emergency operations center are addressed and the potential structure, function, roles, and responsibilities are described, including comparisons across countries with similar incident command systems.