Public Health Emergency Preparedness

Adapting Community Call Centers for Crisis Support: A Model for Home-Based Care and Monitoring. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, September 2007, 222 pp. Describes the development, testing, and implementation of a model to enable community health call centers—such as poison control centers, nurse advice lines, and other hotlines—to support home management and shelter-in-place approaches in certain mass casualty or health emergency events. (AHRQ 07-0048)

AHRQ's Bioterrorism and Health System Preparedness Initiative. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, August 2006. Provides information about AHRQ's bioterrorism and health system preparedness initiative, describing resources and examples of funded initiatives. (AHRQ 06-M045)

Altered Standards of Care in Mass Casualty Events. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, March 2005, 43 pp. White Paper summarizes the recommendations of a group of experts who met in August 2004 to discuss the provision of health and medical care in a mass casualty event. (AHRQ 05-0043)

Community-Based Mass Prophylaxis: A Planning Guide for Public Health Preparedness. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, August 2004, 74 pp. Planning guide to assist public health and emergency management officials devise comprehensive mass prophylaxis plans to ensure that civilian populations have timely access to necessary antibiotics and/or vaccines in the event of a bioterrorist attack or natural disease outbreak. (AHRQ 04-0044)

Current Status of Surge Research. S. Phillips, Academic Emergency Medicine 13(11): October 2006, 1103-1108. Describes research on emergency department preparedness and surge capacity and focuses primarily on the work of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in this area. (AHRQ 07-R023)

Decontamination of Children: Preparedness and Response for Hospital Emergency Departments. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, October 2005, 27-minute video. Demonstrates for emergency responders and hospital emergency department staff how to safely decontaminate children who have been exposed to hazardous chemicals, including those from a bioterrorist attack. DVD (AHRQ 05-0036-DVD)

Emergency Preparedness Atlas: U.S. Nursing Home and Hospital Facilities. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, April 2007, 281 pp. Provides an overview of the role and potential needs of nursing homes in the event of a public health emergency, presents a series of case studies illustrating the ways in which nursing homes may be used to accommodate a surge of patients in six States, and presents an atlas of full-color maps of selected health care facilities for all 50 States and the District of Columbia. (AHRQ 07-0029-2). CD-ROM (AHRQ 07-0029-2-CD)

Emergency Severity Index, Version 4. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, May 2005. Presents a five-level emergency department triage algorithm that provides clinically relevant stratification of patients into five groups from most urgent to least urgent on the basis of acuity and resource needs.
Everything You Need to Know, Set of two DVDs (AHRQ 05-0046-DVD
Implementation Handbook, spiral bound, 82 pp, and poster (AHRQ 05-0046-2)

Evaluation of Hospital Disaster Drills: A Module-Based Approach. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, April 2004, 128 pp. In collaboration with Johns Hopkins University, presents an approach to the evaluation of hospital disaster drills that consists of a series of evaluation modules and addendums to identify specific weaknesses that can be targeted for improvement, and to promote continuing efforts to strengthen hospital disaster preparedness. (AHRQ 04-0032) CD-ROM (AHRQ 04-0032-CD)

Health Emergency Assistance Line and Triage Hub (HEALTH) Model. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, January 2005, 92 pp. Report helps planners determine the requirements, specifications, and resources needed for developing an emergency contact center such as the HEALTH model. (AHRQ 05-0040)

Home Health Care During an Influenza Pandemic: Issues and Resources. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, September 2008, 80 pp. An introductory guide for the home health care industry to prepare for and respond to an influenza pandemic. Lists more than two dozen resources for home health care agency preparedness. (AHRQ 08-0018; single copies free).

Mass Medical Care with Scarce Resources: A Community Planning Guide. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, February 2007, 166 pp. A guide to assist planners at the facility, community, State, and Federal levels in their efforts to plan for and respond to a mass casualty event in the context of broader emergency planning. (AHRQ 07-0001)

Nursing Homes in Public Health Emergencies: Special Needs and Potential Roles. E. Root, J. Amoozegar, S. Bernard, May 2007, 50 pp. Presents findings from a series of focus group discussions about disaster and bioterrorism-related planning activities among nursing homes in Southern California and in five States: North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Utah, as well as the influence of State regulations on nursing homes. (AHRQ 07-0029-1)

Pediatric Hospital Surge Capacity in Public Health Emergencies. E. Boyer, J. Fitch, M. Shannon, December 2008, 32 pp. Provides recommendations to assist clinicians and pediatric hospitals in converting from standard operating capacity to surge capacity in the wake of a public health emergency. Also provides recommendations for community hospital emergency departments so they can provide care for large numbers of critically ill children. (AHRQ 09-0014)

Pediatric Terrorism and Disaster Preparedness; A Resource for Pediatricians. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, October 2006, CD-ROM and 34 pp summary. Discusses the various roles and responsibilities of community- and hospital-based pediatricians in preparing for and responding to natural disasters and bioterrorism events to ensure that the special needs of children are considered and incorporated into planning at the local, State, regional, and Federal levels.
Summary. October 2006 (AHRQ 06(07)-0056-1)
Full Report (CD-ROM). October 2006 (06(07)-0056-CD)

Project XTREME. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, March 2007. A CD-ROM and DVD set for use in cross-training non-respiratory therapy health care professionals in basic respiratory care and ventilator management in the event of a public health emergency.
Model for Health Professionals' Cross-Training for Mass Casualty Respiratory Needs (Report; CD-ROM)
Cross-Training Respiratory Extenders for Medical Emergencies (Training program, DVD).
CD-ROM and DVD Set. (AHRQ 07-0017-MW)

Reopening Shuttered Hospitals to Expand Surge Capacity. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, February 2006, 193 pp. Offers comprehensive guidance on how to reopen a shuttered or partially shuttered hospital to serve as a medical surge facility. Covers physical structure, supply and staffing needs, security, patient transport, and information requirements. Includes a Surge Tool Kit and Facility Checklist, 171 pp. in a three-ring binder. Tool Kit guides staff step by step on planning, reopening, operating, and closing down the hospital. Checklist provides detailed prompts for facility inspection with space for notes on findings. Report (AHRQ 06-0029); Surge Tool Kit and Facility Checklist (AHRQ 06-0029-A)

Rocky Mountain Regional Care Model for Bioterrrorist Events. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, August 2004. Model helps State and local officials quickly locate alternate health care sites if hospitals are overwhelmed by patients due to a bioterrorism attack or other public health emergency. Accompanying alternate care site selection tool helps regional planners locate and rank potential alternative sites such as stadiums or schools based on whether they have adequate ventilation, plumbing, food supply, kitchen facilities, and other factors. (AHRQ 04-0075)

School-Based Emergency Preparedness: A National Analysis and Recommended Protocol. S. Chung, J. Danielson, M. Shannon, December 2008, 53 pp. Presents a national model for school-based emergency response planning, including guidance on the recommended steps for creating and implementing a school-based emergency response plan. (AHRQ 09-0013)

Tool for Evaluating Core Elements of Hospital Disaster Drills. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, June 2008, 60 pp. Provides modules that hospitals can use to identify the most important strengths and weaknesses of their disaster drills. (AHRQ 08-0019; single copies free)

Tools for Public Health Emergency Planners and Responders AHRQ's Public Health Emergency Preparedness Research Program has several interactive online tools to assist Federal, State, and local governments in planning for and responding to public health emergencies. These tools and resources are available on the AHRQ Web site at www.ahrq.gov/prep under "Tools and Resources."

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