Principles of Emergency Management and Emergency Operations Centers

The article on Principles of emergency management and emergency operations centers by Fagel (2010) addresses lessons learned from a pandemic influenza triage exercise in a three-dimension collaborative multiuser virtual learning situation . The authors opine that disasters are undiscriminating in their targets, and any facility or institution may be susceptible to their effects (Beedasy & Ramloll, 2010). Whether natural, intentional, or human-made, occupants and responders must swiftly and effectively react to counteract the impacts to respond to these emergencies effectively (Fagel, 2010). Therefore, it is essential that every individual in such a situation knows precisely what to do. According to the authors, exercising with applicable and site-specific disaster scenarios enables respondents to efficiently react to emergencies and combat threats. 

Critical Analysis 

Discussion 

The purpose of the virtual exercise was to assess the operation of triage during influenza pandemic outbreaks, improve the participants' preparedness skills, and observe the interaction of roles between first respondents and healthcare works as stipulated in the Hospital Incident Command System. The exercise's specific objectives were to enhance skills and knowledge linked to identifying and responding to infectious disease outbreaks and promote interactions among respondents through demonstrating the need for coordination and teamwork. The exercise also aimed at applying knowledge learned during the virtual training to improve preparedness and increase awareness of the flu pandemic. 

A scenario to study the operation of triage in a virtual hospital under a flu pandemic surge was developed and adopted for this study. The researchers used a Play2Train as a simulated environment representative of a hospital in a rural setting with deployable hospital resources similar to staff and first responders. The respondents were handed the scenario script, questionnaires as well as pre-exercise and post-exercise competence tests. The participants enhanced the exercise by putting on outfits in accordance to their roles. Health organization documentation and reports on influenza preparedness exercises were consulted to set up a triage at a healthcare facility. The virtual exercise commenced by a declaration of a state of emergency following an outbreak of a novel strain of influenza flue (Beedasy & Ramloll, 2010) . What followed the command was immediate activation of the influenza pandemic response plan, encompassing triage performance, treatment, medical education, surveillance, and communication. 

Results 

The virtual drill results indicated a positive and statistically significant difference from pre-exercise test to post-exercise test in participants' awareness of their expected role within a hospital's action plan for an influenza pandemic. After the exercise, participants revealed that they were more informed about infection control actions and steps to combat the spread of the influenza pandemic. Also, post-exercise test results indicated that responders were more knowledgeable about isolation protocols and triage are implemented in a hospital. Moreover, the drill helped to increase awareness about the threat influenza pandemic posed to the community. 

Conclusion 

Valuable lessons were learned during this virtual exercise by observing situation-response communications and analyzing the results of the exercise. The virtual environment provided by the Play2Train was effective in gathering remotely located respondents. Furthermore, participants conveyed a high level of engagement in the exercise. They easily branded with their characters and were able to interact effectively with peers. The feedback was very positive as results of pre-exercise and post-exercise tests disclosed that the drill activities generated the perceived improvement of skills and competencies. 

Personal Analysis 

Despite the growing application of online three-dimension virtual training, empirical data, literature, and evidence about virtual preparedness drills and their development, planning, and effectiveness in improving emergency preparedness in public health are scarce. The reviewed article contributes to this information by documenting lessons learned in the virtual learning environment. Like existing literature, the virtual disaster preparedness exercise was well planned and founded on a real scenario. Moreover, the training was successful since there were firmly established objectives before the exercise scenario was implemented. The predetermined goals drove the exercise, and the scenario and environment chosen supported those objectives. 

References 

Beedasy, J., & Ramloll, R. (2010). Lessons learned from a pandemic influenza triage exercise in a 3D interactive multiuser virtual learning environment—Play2Train —Journal of Emergency Management ,  8 (4), 53. 

Branch-Elliman, W., Safdar, N., & Nelson, R. (2021). Economic considerations in infectious diseases emergency response preparedness: It’s all about the point of view.  Clinical Infectious Diseases ,  72 (1), 148-152. 

Fagel, M. J. (2010).  Principles of emergency management and emergency operations centers (EOC) . CRC press.