POLICY MATTERS
When a public health
emergency hits
EXTERNAL
CONSULTATION
DATES HELD:
September 14th, 2017
– December 4th, 2017
# OF RESPONDENTS:
36
H
ow prepared would
you be if Ontario
suddenly found
itself in the midst of
a major outbreak of an airborne
infection or perhaps was swamped
by a wave of reports about an E
coli infection?
A 2015 US study 1 which exam-
ined physicians' assessments of
their preparedness found signifi-
cant gaps in their planning and
preparation for such emergencies.
Sizable fractions of physicians were
unaware of emergency response
tools in their care setting – with
nearly one-half of physicians in
hospitals (44%) reporting that
1
they did not know whether their
care setting had an emergency
response plan, and less than one-
quarter reporting that they had
participated in a drill using such a
plan in the previous two years.
Although a similar survey to
assess Ontario physician prepared-
ness has not been recently con-
ducted, experiences during recent
public health emergencies show
there is always room for improving
one’s state of readiness.
The Public Health Emergencies
policy, just approved by Council,
urges Ontario physicians to have a
level of preparedness in the event
of a crisis. “The College recom-
BREAKDOWN OF
RESPONDENTS:
78% PHYSICIANS
11% ORGANIZATIONS
5% OTHER
HEALTH CARE
PROFESSIONALS
5% UNIDENTIFIED
CHANGES MADE IN
RESPONSE TO
FEEDBACK:
YES
NO
(Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2015;9:666–680)
ISSUE 1, 2018 DIALOGUE
23