Hospitals Rising to the Challenge: The First Five Years of the U.S. Hospital Preparedness Program and Priorities Going Forward

摘要

Hospitals are the backbone of the healthcare response to common medical disasters (i.e., mass casualty events that occur with relative frequency, overwhelm a single hospital, and require a communitywide health response) and, in particular, to catastrophic emergencies, such as an influenza pandemic or large-scale aerosolized anthrax attack. The need for hospitals to be prepared to respond to disasters has increasingly become a priority for hospital leaders. They have been influenced by events such as the 2001 terrorist attacks and Hurricane Katrina and the increased emphasis placed by accreditation organizations and regulatory agencies on the importance of such disasters. Established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in 2002, the goal of the Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP) is to enhance the ability of hospitals and healthcare systems to prepare for and respond to bioterror attacks on civilians and other public health emergencies, including pandemic influenza and natural disasters.