Emergency Preparedness & Planning

Public Health Emergencies  “Emergency preparedness is a programme of long-term development activities whose goals are to strengthen the overall capacity and capability of a country to manage all types of emergencies efficiently and to bring about an orderly transition from relief through recovery and back to sustainable development.” 

 The World Health Organization 

  In today’s challenging and complex public health landscape, public health professionals need to become part of a new generation equipped with new skills and appropriate attributes to serve the population better. Today’s successful public health professionals can manage complex health services and delivery by developing valuable collaborations with departmental, organisational, national and international stakeholders. This is particularly important in terms of preparing and planning for health emergencies. The capacity to respond rapidly and effectively to pandemics and humanitarian emergencies is now more critical than ever.   Natural disasters and infections (such as SARS, H1N1, H1N5, MERS-CoV, Ebola, and the current COVID-19), as well as re-current climate changes (hurricanes, floods, wildfires etc.) and man-made disasters like chemical poisoning, terrorism-related incidents, have taught us the importance of preparedness and the investment in resilient health systems that can lead to effective responses that save lives.  This sustained threat calls for better investment in human resources for health. Those involved in acute events surveillance to employ better command and control, more apt technical skills, tactical communication/coordination, and enhanced community engagement are needed. As such, Imperial College London WHO Collaborating Centre for Public Health Education and Training (ICL-WHO CC) are poised to meet this need and have designed a three-day intensive training course tailored to develop and build senior health professionals’ capacity to prepare and plan for emergencies.    

Course Overview 

The aim of the Emergencies Planning and Preparedness course is to equip public health professionals with the essential tools needed to prepare their organisations, services, and health systems in the event of adverse circumstances. Course content organised around the WHO Guidance for Emergencies Preparedness, and Response and the UK experience in preparing for emergencies.  It aims to skill up participants to become more successful leaders in these contexts. The course will address:  

• Plans and procedures for disaster management and emergency response coordination 
• Resource mobilisation planning  
• National legislation and policy for disaster management 
• Strengthening institutional and human resources for disaster management 
• Establishing and managing stocks of relief supplies and equipment 
• Identifying transportation options 
• Public education, awareness, and community participation in disaster management 
• The collection, analysis, and dissemination of emergency and disaster-related information is likely to occur in the region. 

Course Aims 

The course aims to enable participants to plan effective preparedness for their organisations in the event of an emergency. Additionally, it will enable participants to apply critical thinking, evidence-based decision-making, and creative solutions to prepare for emergencies modelled key global experiences and how they were led and managed in acute events settings.    

Target Audience

This course is designed to meet the needs of health managers and professionals responsible for emergency plans and policies during acute events. This could be the director of surveillance/ acute event preparedness at the Ministry of Health and other relevant ministries and organisations. All participants should be leaders in their fields and within the organisation. Those who are aspiring to lead on emergency preparedness in their organisations are welcomed too.    

Course Learning Objectives  

General objective:  By the end of this course, participants will be able to:  

• Identify the main elements and tools needed for emergency preparedness  
• Demonstrate a universal understanding of legislation and policy for disaster management. 
• Recognise best practices of resources management and mobilisation in planning for an acute event.  
• Effectively tackle real problems from situational interpretation to high-level decision-making with a clear frame of accountability and responsibility during an acute event setting. 
• Effectively lead, whilst maintaining services, during an acute event (including a pandemic) 
• Effectively deliver public information relating to potential emergencies. 
• Produce a full emergency plan for their organisations.  

 Specific Objectives:

• Recognise and reproduce leadership roles within the health sector during acute events and emergencies settings.  
• Effectively prepare coordination of stakeholders during acute events outbreaks  
• Plan successful mobilisation of resources in the event of an emergency. 
• Explain the importance of successful teamwork in dealing with acute events and pandemics.  
• Identify key elements in drawing up emergency and contingency emergency plans. 
• Recognise the importance of good communication and information dissemination during public health crisis. 
• Establish capabilities to contribute fully to a range of roles, both individually and as part of a team, as effective communicators, and leaders. 
• Distinguish between different methodologies for reasoning the causes of sub-optimal performance. 
• Analyse specific country experiences in transforming health services delivery in the event of an emergency.  
• Apply a root-cause approach for identifying and responding to bottlenecks. 
• Demonstrate an ability to plan for tools and resources utilisation to support effective response to an acute event. 

Course Competencies 

• Develop and implement strategies based on relevant evidence, legislation, emergency planning procedures, regulations, and policies 
• Act effectively in mobilising resources and people needed for the emerging situation.  
• Understand the local implications of the One Health* approach, its global interconnectivity and how it affects health conditions in the population 
• Critically analyse the changing nature, key factors and resources that shape One Health to influence actions (emergency preparedness planning and response) at the local and international levels 
• Know and apply, where needed, the International Health Regulations to coordinate and develop strategic partnerships and resources in key sectors and disciplines for health security purposes 
• Contribute to or leads community-based health needs assessments, ensuring that these assessments consider biological, social, economic, cultural, political, and physical determinants of health and broader determinants of health such as deprivation. 
• Evaluate continuously plans, actions and results and ensures a continuous learning process.  

  * One Health: One Health is an approach that recognizes that the health of people is closely connected to the health of animals and our shared environment. One Health is not new, but it has become more important in recent years and in particular during Covid-19 Pandemic. This is because many factors have changed interactions between people, animals, plants, and our environment.  

Course Structure  

The curriculum is based on the science and art of acute event and health emergencies management at all stages from planning, preparation, execution, and look-back exercises. All are taken in management and leadership disciplines: decision making, operations management, and communication skills. At its core, the teaching and learning in this course are interactive in nature and based on participants’ involvement and engagement. Learning will take place in the form of a small group work, self-directed learning, and lectures. The course is divided into three main themes, within which a series of sessions have been designed to encapsulate the most current issues relevant to the themes: 

1. Planning and contingency plans 
2. 2. Preparing resources to minimise the impact of emergencies 
3. 3. Measures of success

Assessment and Feedback  

Within each theme, feedback on individual sessions will be sought. Both quantitative and qualitative assessments of the content, delivery and effectiveness will be assessed.   Additionally, a pre-and post-course knowledge-based evaluation will be integrated alongside practical assignments. All participants are required to sit the final online exam.    

Participants 

As this course is highly interactive, the maximum number of attendees is 20.    

Certificates 

 A certificate of Completion of Training will be awarded upon completing all required assessments and active participation in the course activities.   

For more information and to register interest, please visit our dedicated website.