Health crisis communication (HCC) is a challenging and urgent task of the emergency preparedness planning of any welfare state. In this paper, some particular reasons for that will be more specifically analyzed. The action flow of HCC includes the phases of preparedness, warning, response, recovery, and evaluation. For a successful HCC detailed guidelines are also needed, along with profound knowledge of how the crisis stakeholders should deal with the psychological needs of the citizens and the mass media, as well as with some specific technical items. The ultimate implication of HCC is that the public is aware of its right to make informed choices after having been actively involved in the procedure of risk decisions making.
Bioterrorism constitutes a major health threat to global communities, with many specific features that carry the potential to extraordinary stress the Public Health Sector (PHS) of any country, because of the needs of resources and of a coordination network required for a successful response to such incidents. Bioterrorism incidents of the near past prove that public mortality and morbidity can be further reduced if a functional protocol would allow first responders, hospitals, and officials of the PHS to steer more efficiently the public expectations. At the national level, the PHS director is responsible to mobilize and coordinate that network of the critical human, financial and logistical resources during the preparedness and response phases after a bioterrorist attack to mitigate its effects. Both these phases include many specific functions and responsibilities, which will be beneath analyzed.
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