Introduction
The SNS is an acronym utilized in place of The Strategic National Stockpile. This is a medical supplies buffer created to help in cases of emergencies such as biohazards, natural disasters and chemical and bio-terrorism. The supplies are kept ready for distribution to all the major cities at once and are available free to the population in times of disaster. Nursing professionals play a crucial role in administration and distribution of these resources to individuals in their need during disasters. This paper evaluates mechanisms affecting at play in the administration of these resources by answering to the following questions.
- List and explain the types of items a community hospital will require and seek from the SNS in the event of a disaster.
A community hospital would require the following items from the SNS in case of a disaster.
Nurses
Nurses would require items such as protective clothing, communication aids, medication for themselves in addition to basic medical examination equipment such as stethoscopes and toxin and blood type examination equipment. These utilities would be useful to nurses and the medical response team in general by helping them access the affected areas within the community while keeping in touch with the various coordination teams while on the ground.
The community
The community would require, from the SNS, the following items through their community health facility. Medication, relief supplies of water and food, anti-toxins And protective gear and shelter for the unaffected and rehabilitated individuals. The community requires the response and assistance of the SNS during such times mainly to revert the consequences of the disaster, while averting extended damage by the causative factors of the disaster. These items assist in helping the residents cope with such disasters.
- List and explain at least two concerns you may have when forced to rely on this facility.
- As with all facilities dealing with disaster responses, the SNS may experience cases of delayed responses due to extensive procedure necessary for the release of its stockpiles. In this case, the available resources within the hospital are utilized in responses to the disaster while the SNS supplies reimburse and enhance the community hospital efforts.
- Further, the stockpiles held by the SNS may have flaws such as short expiry durations or damaged equipment due to handling. While these cases might be rare, it is prudent that the supplies so delivered are examined for consistence with the requirements.
- During the creation of disaster plans, it is common and essential that neighboring hospitals work together. List and explain some of the problems that may arise from a disaster plan, which may be ten years old and involved all of the local community hospitals at the time it was originally designed.
- An old response plan poses problems for collaboration between stakeholders in disaster response. Expiry of time means that the various dynamics at work during the formulation of the response plan might have changed. Improvement on policy, creation of new medicines, demographics and relocation of personnel are all changes affecting the effectiveness of disaster response plans. It is important that the plan is revised periodically factoring in all the changing variables involved. A plan ten years old requiring the collaboration of hospitals in response to disasters may prove ineffective. For instance, the plan may require the reservation of capacity within each hospital to cater for certain populations ten years ago may prove ineffective in current circumstances.
References
ACHE (2013, March 23). ACHE News Release: Hospital CEOs Say Bioterrorism Plans are in Place. Retrieved from http://www.ache.org/PUBS/Releases/031303_bioterrorism.cfm
CDC - PHPR - Strategic National Stockpile. (2012, October 15). Retrieved March 4, 2014, from http://www.cdc.gov/phpr/stockpile/stockpile.htm
Hearne, S. A., & Segal, L. M. (2003). Leveraging the nation's anti-bioterrorisminvestments: Foundation efforts to ensure a revitalized public health system.Health Affairs, 22(4), 230–234.
