PM4THEWORLD
Role of Healthcare Project
Management in Tackling Disasters
Dr. Deepa Bhide MBBS, DCH, PMP
India

THAT’S ME

-Types of Disasters
-Need for Disaster Management
-Disaster/Crisis Management
-Healthcare Threats for Survivors
-Healthcare Project Management
-Surge Hospitals
-Knowledge Management
-Utilizing Technology
-Call for Action
-Thanks and Questions
AGENDA

SALUTE TO THESE HEALTHCARE WORKERS!
“At that moment, I only thought about my
patients." She continued, "If I had walked out
of the emergency door, I wouldn't have been
able to live with the remorse for the rest of my
life.“
- Nurse from a Turkish Hospital as the
earthquake struck
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1w-844tqk4

TYPES OF NATURAL DISASTERS
Floods
Avalanche
Volcano
Tornado
Drought
Earthquake
Tsunami

EARTHQUAKE DEVASTATION
- 7.8-magnitude on Ritcher Scale
- 170 sub-districts in 43 districts in 10 of Syria’s governorates
- Impacted over 10 million people needing humanitarian support
- Approx. 54000 dead
- Approx. 75,523 injured
- Over 230,000 relief workers/140,000 healthcare workers on site
- According to the World Bank’s Global Rapid Post-Disaster
Damage Estimation (GRADE) Report, direct damages in Turkey
from the earthquakes are estimated at $34.2 billion.
https://disasterphilanthropy.org/disasters/2023-turkey-syria-earthquake/#
An urgent and massive healthcare emergency

-Natural or man-made disasters are inevitable
-Sound disaster management is essential to
-Ensure the world population’s well-being
-Safeguarding Patients and Physicians as an individual and families!
-Safeguard the development and implementation of global, regional, and national
frameworks such as
-Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by United Nations. SGD:3 refers to Healthcare
goals
-Universal health coverage (UHC) by the UN, to provide basic healthcare for all
-International Health Regulations (2005), a regulation adopted by World Health
Assembly
NEED FOR DISASTER MANAGEMENT

• Water-borne diseases – Cholera, diarrheal diseases, Hepatitis A
• Leishmaniasis – spread by sandfly
• Overcrowding – measles, Covid-19, respiratory illnesses
Infectious Diseases
• Minor cuts and bruises to fractures, crush injuries and burns
• Effects of inhaling large amounts of dust and debris.
Wound Infections
• Increase incidence of stroke, heart attack
• Loss in control of hypertension, diabetes, and cardiac disorders
Chronic Conditions
• Destruction of medical facilities, roads, and bridges
• Interruption of medical chain supplies
• Pregnant women – a vulnerable population/preterm labor
Healthcare Disruptions
• Anxiety, low mood, emotional ups and downs, and poor sleep
• Long-term mental health problems - Depression or post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD), suicidal thoughts
Psychological Trauma
• Poverty/Loss of bread-winner
• Financial de-stabilization/loss of business
Financial Instability
HEALTHCARE THREATS FOR SURVIVORS
https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/5-ways-which-earthquakes-can-threaten-our-health

DISASTER/CRISIS MANAGEMENT
Crisis
Organizations
Decrease
Production
Decreased
Revenue
Projects/Prog
rams
Increased Risk Changing
Scope
Decreased
Team Moral
Increased
Cost
Human Resources
Sick Death Migration

HEALTHCARE PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Healthcare
Project
Management
Manpower
Communication
Standards
and
Protocols
Infrastucture
/Facilities
Procurement
Process
Assets/IT
• Stocking life-saving medical
supplies/ equipment
• Healthcare supply-chains
• Forecast need of medical supplies
• Disease surveillance/preparedness
for outbreak
• Makeshift hospitals/Surge centers
• Transport and support infrastructure
• Global/Local Partnerships (govt
and NGOs)
• Creating standards and guidelines -
Operating Manuals
• Knowledge Mgm/Lessons Learned
• Establishing Communication
technology
• Robots and Tele-medicine usage
• Predictive Analytics and
Forecasting/Impact assessment
• Basic first aid and evacuation
procedures/Activation of EMTs
• Practical training, bilingual patient guides
• Healthcare workers - psychological
support
• Effective, simple, open, candid,
consistent, and timely
messaging
• Clinical leadership
• Risk communications and community
engagement (RCCE)

EMERGENCY MEDICAL TEAMS (EMT)
- Improve the timeliness and quality of health services at the time-of-need
- Activation of EMT Network to provide essential health services and supplies to those
impacted
- EMTs - deployed as standardized or modularized entities to support specific surge
requirements based on identified needs and gaps
https://www.who.int/emergencies/partners/emergency-medical-
teams/emt-global-classified-teams
Over multiple
locations
Outpatient fixed
Complex referral
and inpatient care
Embedded in Type 2 or 3
for outbreak, surgical,
rehabilitation, mental
health etc
INCREASE IN COMPLEXITY/SPECIALIZATION OF CARE SERVICES

SURGE HOSPITALS
- Surge hospital - temporary makeshift medical
centres – a type of Emergency Medical Team
- Types
- Shuttered hospitals/closed wards
- Mobile medical facilities
- Portable medical facilities
- Facilities of opportunity (eg college, auditorium)
- Mass casualty events/Need of quarantine
- Special manpower needs/Training/Psychology
- IT infrastructure/Emergency Medical Records
https://www.jointcommission.org/-
/media/tjc/documents/covid19/surge-hospitals.pdf

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
13
- Disaster Preparedness/Disaster Surveillance
- Lessons learned from earlier similar emergencies. Eg
- COVID-19 project lessons learned - WHO
- Knowledge Pooling - Getting smarter each day
– Bedside Learning Coordinator - Nightingale
Hospital, UK
- Clinical leadership across journals/consortia
- Research in areas of emergency preparedness,
mental health, pharmaceutical care

UTILIZING TECHNOLOGY
https://www.apple.com/in/newsroom/2020/04/apple-and-google-partner-on-covid-19-contact-tracing-techn
https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/tech/telemedicine-companies-saw-a-funding-boom-q1-2020

CALL FOR ACTION
✓Keep Emergency Medical Teams teams trained and ready
✓Resurrection of healthcare after the disaster - more difficult than the disaster itself. Plan
rigorously
✓Seek Governmental and Non-Governmental (NGOs) interventions/support
✓Be ready to donate and serve in your capacity - life-saving care to the impacted population
✓Be prepared at all times

https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/326106 https://www.preventionweb.net/files/43291
_sendaiframeworkfordrren.pdf
KEY FRAMEWORKS FOR DISASTER
MANAGEMENT

Your Questions
and Comments
are important -
We will use the
Q&A section to
capture your input
GO AHEAD - ASK
US ANYTHING

Thank you!

PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT ON HEALTHCARE
WORKERS
- Healthcare workers are likely to experience acute and chronic, often unpredictable,
occupational stressors
- Physical Health Issues – Injuries and wounds, exacerbation of existing medical
conditions
- Psychological Health Issues
- Acute Stress Reaction - negative mood, dissociation, sleep difficulties, irritability, and inattention
- Vicarious Traumatization - loss of appetite, fatigue, sleep disorders, inattention, fear etc.
- Traumatic Stress Syndrome - anxiety, depression, insomnia, etc.
- Tips for staying mentally/physically healthy
- Proactive risk analysis of healthcare workers
- Provide psychological support - professional and family/counseling
- Staying physically fit

- Ethics endangered in emergencies/crises
- Delivery of ethical care in times of crisis is mandatory
- Medical emergencies – call for ethically appropriate
treatment to be delivered. Guidelines for ethics of
setting priorities for the allocation of resources during
scarcity
- Prioritization of patients in face of constraints e.g., life-
saving supplies
- Guidelines by international and national agencies
for healthcare providers – e.g. essential services
in Italy for Covid-19
https://www.who.int/news/item/20-03-2020-who-has-established-an-
international-working-group-on-ethics-covid-19
ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

-https://www.who.int/activities/implementing-health-emergency-and-disaster-risk-
management
-https://www.preventionweb.net/files/43291_sendaiframeworkfordrren.pdf
REFERENCES