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Setting Foundations for Developing Disaster Response Metrics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 February 2017

Mahshid Abir*
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, Institute of Health Care Policy and Innovation, Acute Care Research Unit, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan RAND Corporation, Arlington, Virginia
Sue Anne Bell
Affiliation:
School of Nursing, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Neha Puppala
Affiliation:
CEP America, Department of Emergency Medicine, Providence Hospital, Washington, DC
Osama Awad
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, Ministry of Health, Kingdom of Bahrain
Melinda Moore
Affiliation:
RAND Corporation, Arlington, Virginia
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to Mahshid Abir, MD, MSc, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Michigan, 2800 Plymouth Rd., NCRC Bldg. 14, Rm. G226, Ann Arbor, MI (e-mail: [email protected]).

Abstract

There are few reported efforts to define universal disaster response performance measures. Careful examination of responses to past disasters can inform the development of such measures. As a first step toward this goal, we conducted a literature review to identify key factors in responses to 3 recent events with significant loss of human life and economic impact: the 2003 Bam, Iran, earthquake; the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami; and the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Using the PubMed (National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD) database, we identified 710 articles and retained 124 after applying inclusion and exclusion criteria. Seventy-two articles pertained to the Haiti earthquake, 38 to the Indian Ocean tsunami, and 14 to the Bam earthquake. On the basis of this review, we developed an organizational framework for disaster response performance measurement with 5 key disaster response categories: (1) personnel, (2) supplies and equipment, (3) transportation, (4) timeliness and efficiency, and (5) interagency cooperation. Under each of these, and again informed by the literature, we identified subcategories and specific items that could be developed into standardized performance measures. The validity and comprehensiveness of these measures can be tested by applying them to other recent and future disaster responses, after which standardized performance measures can be developed through a consensus process. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2017;11:505–509)

Type
Concepts in Disaster Medicine
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2017 

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