Planning for Disaster Medical Support
Written by Anam Hussain
DMS planning is the process of preparing a sequence of action steps to achieve in order to achieve the specific goals of DMS- to prevent human life and health damage and lessen the number of victims injured and disabled in case of a disaster. The main tasks of DMS planning are: to increase the efficiency of DMS organisation, to reduce risks and to utilize, with maximum efficiency, available time and resources.
Objectives of DMS planning are:
- Optimize the established DMS organisation preparedness and training
- To prepare sufficient amount of human, medical and technical resources
- To establish medical teams of different level of readiness
- To provide means for rapid medical reaction in case of disaster
Principles:
- Unity with all other disaster management plans
- Particularity- DMS plan describes the particular type of disaster, in particular administrative area and for particular actors
- Operability- DMS has to consider only the available means and capabilities for planning and organising the disaster medical response
- Continuity- of development and revision
Disaster medical support planning is a continuous process and there are two types of planning
- Long-term panning: performed prior to the disaster via which a contingency plan is created
- Crisis planning: begins in the impact phase. Actual situation is compared to the real one and changes are made in medical operation procedures based on the differences. Operational plan is created.
Planning process follows the sequence of steps:
- Receiving superior level guidance and instructions
- Receiving medical intelligence information regarding actual medical situation and available medical means capabilities.
- Describing executive body tasks and responsibilities
- Assessing readiness status of available medical means and capabilities
- Assessing disaster probability
Every DMS plan consists of 3 main elements: Textual body, maps and annexes
Textual body describes:
- Description of physical and economic geography of administration unit
- Evaluation of the prognosis of medical situation in case of particular disaster
- DMS objectives and tasks
- Organisation of DMS
- Medical intelligence assessment of region
- Population at risk
- Medical means and capabilities
- Transport and communication networks
- Organisation of med intelligence
- Organisation of call and duty roasters
- Reports and returns
- Individual and collective protective measures requirements and implementation
- SOP for key personnel
- Co-ordination with other elements of URS
The following maps are mandatory for every DMS plan
- Area, physical, industrial, meteorological maps
- Location of Forward Medical stations and medical means capabilities, executive bodies
- Routes for egress, ingress and medical evacuation
- Warehouse locations