Canadian healthcare readiness for public health emergencies

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DOI

https://doi.org/10.5206/uwomj.v86i1.2156

Language of the publication
English
Date
2017-08-29
Type
Article
Author(s)
  • Lefebvre, Cory
  • Beswick, Adam
  • Crosby, Lauren
  • Mitchell, Eric
Publisher
University of Western Ontario

Abstract

Following the 2003 SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syn-drome) outbreak in Toronto, there remains a concern that Canada’s healthcare systems are inadequately equipped to re-spond to a future public health emergency. Public health emer-gencies, defined as an emergency need for health care services to respond to a disaster, significant or catastrophic event, are economically costly. Effective prevention and responses to future emergencies would prevent economic costs like those from the 2003 SARS outbreak. An analysis from Hawryluck et al. of the SARS response identified major gaps: incomplete infection control, lack of system-wide communications, and no system-wide coordination leading to isolated, inefficient responses. More than a decade later, improvements have been made but there are areas in the infection control protocol that still require changes. More training is required for Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel to effectively handle emer-gency scenes and to improve multiple agency coordination. Local hospitals need to improve their surge capacity, adminis-trative emergency preparedness infrastructure, and personnel training. The creation of the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) in 2004 responded to concerns about the capacity of Canada’s healthcare system to respond effectively to public health threats. At the provincial level, the Emergency Man-agement Branch (EMB) works effectively similar to and in coordination with PHAC. The needs for improvement should question if Canada will be able to handle the next public health emergency that rolls through its door.

Subject

  • Health

Keywords

  • Emergencies,
  • Public health

Pagination

29-31

Peer review

Yes

Identifiers

ISSN
2560-8274

Article

Journal title
University of Western Ontario Medical Journal
Journal volume
86
Journal issue
1

Citation(s)

Lefebvre C, Beswick A, Crosby L, Mitchell E. Canadian healthcare readiness for public health emergencies. University of Western Ontario Medical Journal. 2017 Aug 29;86(1):29-31. https://doi.org/10.5206/uwomj.v86i1.2156

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Collection(s)

Emergency preparedness and response

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