Emergency Response Presentation

Emergency Response Presentation

Slide 3

Covid-19 disease, declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020, is one of the deadliest pandemics ever described in medical history. While it began with a few instances reported in Wuhan Chia on December 31, 2019, the number of patients quickly expanded and even overloaded the available public healthcare resources. Because the illness was extremely contagious via contact with infected respiratory droplets, infection prevention strategies such as wearing a face mask and other personal protective equipment, as well as social isolation, made a lot of sense.

The next series of slides provides an in-depth analysis of the pandemic’s impact on the local and broader community, the emergency response measures implemented to curb the spread and mortalities, the inclusion of marginalized communities, the impact of the Christian worldview on the response, an assessment of what could have been done differently, and finally, the role of DNP-prepared nurses in the emergency response.

Slide 4

The pandemic has a wide-ranging societal impact. The health sector was hit the worst, as the disease caused major morbidity and mortality worldwide, with John Hopkin’s University (2018) CSSE statistics revealing that there were 649,196,603 total cases globally, with 6,653,187 fatalities as of December 12th, 2020, at 3:21 PM.

In addition to morbidity and death, the condition had a substantial psychological effect, with anxiety and depression prevalent. Furthermore, the closing of enterprises resulted in the furloughing and laying off of many individuals, leaving them unable to get even basic necessities (Schnitzler et al., 2021).

Moreover, school closures interrupted learning and the social environment of children and adolescents, causing anxiety among that group (Schnitzler et al., 2021). Since the technology was viewed as the solution to assure learning continuity, individuals who could not access technology or the internet were still marginalized.

Slide 5

The police were given additional responsibilities to implement the regulations and policies, such as lockdowns and curfews aimed at limiting the spread of Covid-19. Furthermore, resources for criminal justice systems were pushed to guarantee that individuals who violated the restrictions were subjected to the appropriate legal actions (Schnitzler et al., 2021).

As the police redirected their time and resources to dealing with pandemic-related restrictions, criminality in other areas grew, such as domestic child abuse (Schnitzler et al., 2021). The challenge was that the increase in child abuse was less evident since individuals were confined to their houses and traveled less. Moreover, people’s shopping patterns and consumer behaviors altered as a result of the loss of jobs, while air pollution decreased as a result of less travel and lower production.

Side 6

Emergency response measures, as stated in the OECD’s (2022) publication

1: Emergency coordination: review, planning, and strategic support

1. Actionable steps
2. Technical meetings, consultations, and webinars to shine a light on important areas about Covid-19
3. Member state briefings

Updating Covid-19 guidelines and tools and dissemination of the information

2: Collaborative surveillance and public health intelligence, laboratory capacity

building for respiratory pathogens and genomic surveillance, risk forecasting,

and response monitoring

1. Laboratory training, strategic and technical assistance-healthcare workers trained on taking samples for testing Covid-19
2. Diagnostic supplies are requested through WHO supply mechanisms and shipped within weeks of request validation
3. WHO weekly epidemiological updates

3: Clinical care, infection prevention, and control, resilient health systems

1. WHO PPE supplies:
2. Training on clinical management webinars, missions, or supportive visits provided to countries
3. Health workforce capacity building: IC coaching, water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH)
4. Technical assistance, webinars, training, support, and provision of tools for the maintenance of essential health services during the Covid-19 pandemic

4: Community protection: two-way information sharing, multisectoral approach

to social welfare, public health, and social measures

1. Infodemic management
2. WHO collaborating centers and partners trained in infodemic management to support country capacity building
3. Public health measures at points of entry (strategically positioned hand washing equipment)
4. RCCE strategies

5: Access to countermeasures: vaccine, research, and development

1. Vaccination training, webinars, and technical and strategic support missions
2. Interim guidelines on Covid-19 vaccines published
3. WHO-supported solidarity Covid-19 vaccine trials

Slide 7

People welcomed the many public health interventions created in response to Covd-19, resulting in a decrease in viral transmission as well as mortalities. The majority of the methods focused on infection prevention and control, making them appropriate and relevant for the prevention of Covid-19 disease. Significant influencing variables for the timing of the measures were location, patient age, social media usage, and education.

According to Zhou et al. (2021), people who were distant, aged, had little education, and did not utilize social media acquired Covid-19-related information late. The findings highlight the need to consider the demands of the underprivileged.

Slide 8

Talic et al. (2021) conducted a systematic study to determine the efficacy of different public health interventions created in response to Covid-19. The findings are shown in the slide above, with the author concluding that wearing a face mask, hand washing, and social distancing are effective techniques for lowering Covid-19 incidence.

Slide 9

Children, women, individuals with disabilities, people living with HIV, the elderly, refugees, and immigrants face significant barriers to accessing healthcare and other services. Their discrepancy is exacerbated by emergencies such as Covid-19. During Covid-19, the disaster response, via its numerous initiatives, worked directly with the disadvantaged population to accommodate them and address their needs.

The slide above highlights the many causes that contribute to the marginalization of the aforementioned groups, as well as the various ways in which the disaster response incorporated them. The data is obtained from the UNICEF (2020) article on how to include marginalized communities and vulnerable people in risk communication and community engagement (RCCE)

Slide 10

More discussion on the marginalized groups and how they were incorporated into the disaster response plan

Slide 11

Find the Christian perspective on the emergency response to Covid-19, as well as how the many biblical teachings support the engagement and inclusion of marginalized groups in response activities above.

Side 12

According to an analysis of the Covid-19 emergency response, a common theme noted by several nations was inadequate pandemic preparedness. The three primary policies or measures that contribute to pandemic preparedness are as follows: risk management protocols to follow during pandemics, government risk reduction capabilities, and overall critical sector preparedness (OECD, 2022).

According to the assessment, governments need to learn more from past pandemics, like the 2009 H1NA, resulting in a reluctance to adopt updated, reliable, adaptable, and rational standards for Covid-19. If a comparable disease pandemic occurs in the future, disease management protocols must be developed to facilitate the response and treatment of victims.

Further, to respond effectively to a future comparable event, risk anticipatory tactics, including communication methods during the pandemic, as well as suitable and necessary budgetary allocations for a crisis, must be addressed.

Slide 13

Nurses, being the majority of healthcare staff, play an important role in patient management across all healthcare settings. Nurses offer a variety of care services to Covid-19 patients in the emergency department, inpatient wards, and in the community. DNP programs train nurses for the highest level of nursing practice, thus equipping them with the requisite clinical and leadership skills to treat Covid-19 patients (Bekemeier et al., 2021).

Nurses must demonstrate moral courage while doing their tasks; else, care delivery may be jeopardized. Compassion, moral responsibility (taking responsibility in circumstances of moral ambiguity), adherence to professional ethics and principles, and complete dedication to achieving patient care outcomes are the basic minimum for moral courage-based care delivery (Ali Awad & Al-Anwer Ashour, 2022)

Slide 14

Amidst scarce medical resources caused by overstretching treatment during Covid-19, there is a need to increase the efficiency of their usage and establish ways to prioritize allocation. Grover et al. (2020) incorporate a graphical depiction of resource allocation preferences for Covid-19 patients.

According to the priority-setting policy, as highlighted by Grover et al. (2020), the sickest or, more accurately, the most acutely Covid-19 unwell patients are prioritized before treating other patients. The priority-setting procedure took age into account and advocated for the youngest to save the most lives since the old, owing to declining immunity and weak state, as well as many comorbidities, may have a lower chance of survival (Grover et al., 2020).

Furthermore, equality must be assured by the use of a first-come, first-served basis; however, this does not apply in emergency room settings with an efficient triaging system. Other criteria evaluated include the individual’s societal worth and the advantages to others.

Slide 15

The Covid-19 pandemic affected various areas, with devastating consequences seen in health, education, business, and law. The harm, however, was mitigated by different public health measures put in place to restrict disease spread and minimize death rates. While some studies demonstrate that public health interventions were effective, multiple counties agree that their preparedness for the event was inadequate. To permit an effective response to a similar incident in the future, comprehensive disaster preparation is required, with suitable risk-anticipating measures implemented.

References

Ali Awad, N. H., & Al-Anwer Ashour, H. M. (2022). Crisis, ethical leadership and moral courage: Ethical climate during COVID-19. Nursing Ethics, 29(6), 1441–1456. https://doi.org/10.1177/09697330221105636

Bekemeier, B., Kuehnert, P., Zahner, S. J., Johnson, K. H., Kaneshiro, J., & Swider, S. M. (2021). A critical gap: Advanced practice nurses focused on the public’s health. Nursing Outlook, 69(5), 865–874. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2021.03.023

Cucinotta, D., & Vanelli, M. (2020). WHO declares COVID-19 a pandemic. Acta Bio-Medica : Atenei Parmensis, 91(1), 157–160. https://doi.org/10.23750/abm.v91i1.9397

Grover, S., McClelland, A., & Furnham, A. (2020). Preferences for scarce medical resource allocation: Differences between experts and the general public and implications for the COVID-19 pandemic. British Journal of Health Psychology, 25(4), 889–901. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjhp.12439

OECD. (2022). First lessons from government evaluations of COVID-19 responses: A synthesis. OECD. https://www.oecd.org/coronavirus/policy-responses/first-lessons-from-government-evaluations-of-covid-19-responses-a-synthesis-483507d6/

Priebe, T. (2020, July 8). 5 times Jesus prioritized the marginalized. Lifesong for Orphans. https://lifesong.org/2020/07/5-times-jesus-prioritized-the-marginalized/

Schnitzler, L., Janssen, L. M. M., Evers, S. M. A. A., Jackson, L. J., Paulus, A. T. G., Roberts, T. E., & Pokhilenko, I. (2021). The broader societal impacts of COVID-19 and the growing importance of capturing these in health economic analyses. International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care, 37(1), e43. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266462321000155

Talic, S., Shah, S., Wild, H., Gasevic, D., Maharaj, A., Ademi, Z., Li, X., Xu, W., Mesa-Eguiagaray, I., Rostron, J., Theodoratou, E., Zhang, X., Motee, A., Liew, D., & Ilic, D. (2021). Effectiveness of public health measures in reducing the incidence of covid-19, SARS-CoV-2 transmission, and covid-19 mortality: systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.), 375, e068302. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2021-068302

The John Hopkins University. (2022). COVID-19 map. Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html

UNICEF. (2020). COVID-19: How to include marginalized and vulnerable people in risk communication and community engagement. Unicef.org. https://www.unicef.org/ukraine/media/5396/file/covid_marginalized_eng.pdf

World Health Organization. (2020, April 7). Practical considerations and recommendations for religious leaders and faith-based communities in the context of COVID-19. Who.int; World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/practical-considerations-and-recommendations-for-religious-leaders-and-faith-based-communities-in-the-context-of-covid-19

Zhou, W., He, L., Nie, X., Wuri, T., Piao, J., Chen, D., Gao, H., Liu, J., Tubden, K., He, M., & He, J. (2021). Accuracy and timeliness of knowledge dissemination on COVID-19 among people in rural and remote regions of China at the early stage of outbreak. Frontiers in Public Health, 9, 554038. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.554038