Response to readings
Response to readings
Walsh et al (2012). Core competencies for disaster medicine and public health. Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness, 6, pp. 44-52
A diverse range of health professionals need to be involved into the functioning of the system, ensuring emergency preparedness, response and management. In this regard, the integration and consistency of disaster medicine and public health is viewed as one of the key tasks. The article elaborates on the practical ways to integrate competencies of various healthcare specialists in the field of disaster management. They include expert working groups, Public Health Preparedness Summit, Integrated Training Summit and Expert Working Group Final (Walsh et al, 2012, pp.45-48) The discussion of the appropriateness of using these forums for bringing increased consistency into the field of disaster response and management is based on survey data. The use of the above forums provided for generating the list of core competencies and subcompetencies in the field of disaster management (Walsh et al, 2012, pp.50-51).
Addressing the issue of consistency across health care professionals, involved into ensuring the functioning of disaster management cycle is vital for building-up a viable system of disaster response and management. Identifying forums for specialists’ communication and creating a complex vision of their competencies and subcompetencies is required for several reasons. Firstly, such forums and competencies/subcompetencies lists are essential for forming curricula for students, who are going to work in the fields of public health and/or disaster management. Secondly, they are required for ensuring continuous learning and development of specialists in the above fields. Finally, effective integration of competencies and subcompetencies is required to ensure the quality division of labour in case of emergency. In other worlds, integration of professionals will help to create a situation, where each person knows the scope of work he/she is responsible for and simultaneously acts as a member of effective team. The usefulness of synergy effects cannot be underestimated in case of emergencies/disasters.
Reading No 2
Pines, L., Chandra, A., Acosta, J. (2013). The promise and pitfalls of community resilience. Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness, 2013, 7, pp.603-606
The notions of community preparedness and resilience are central to the field of disaster management. The contribution, prepared by Pines, Chandra and Acosta (2013) focuses on comparing and contrasting traditional emergency preparedness and community resilience approaches. The notion of emergency preparedness tends to focus on an individual household preparedness to emergency situation, while the community resilience approach emphasizes the community members’ ability to provide response to emergency situation and recover from them (Pines, Chandra&Acosta, 2013, p. 604). At the same time, whereas traditional approach underlines disaster-specific functions, the novel approach provides for merging community members’ efforts to promote multifaceted wellbeing (social, economic and health-related aspects) (Pines, Chandra&Acosta, 2013, p. 604). It is also worth underlining that the concept of emergency preparedness focuses on plans and supplies, whereas the idea of community resilience is founded to focus on the processes of cooperation in terms of a problem-solving process (Pines, Chandra&Acosta, 2013, p. 605). While appreciating the foundations of community resilience approach, the authors underline its pitfalls, such as the lack of a central authority, responsible for community resilience, as well as the difficulties in measuring community resilience (Pines, Chandra&Acosta, 2013, p. 606).
Comparing and contrasting different approaches to emergency response and recovery is highly necessary in the era of large-scale multifaceted threats. The comparison of these approaches, as provided by the authors of the article under study, shows the extent which they are different. Despite the fact that the concept of community resilience is broadly praised, it still has its pitfalls. The analysis of the concepts allows suggesting a possibility of utilizing both of them to ensure disaster preparedness/resilience in local terms. Simultaneous focus on individual response, supplies, planning, as well as cooperation and playing in a team combined with specific system of management and accountability can help communities ensure both individual household preparedness and overall community resilience, and enjoy their synergetic effects.
References
Pines, L., Chandra, A., Acosta, J. (2013). The promise and pitfalls of community resilience. Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness, 2013, 7, pp.603-606
Walsh et al (2012). Core competencies for disaster medicine and public health. Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness, 6, pp. 44-52
