Emergency management pandemic planning: An analysis of state emergency plans

Abstract

Conventional wisdom holds that pre-event planning is a key factor in effective disaster response. In assessing the response to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, it is necessary to evaluate the extent to which emergency management agencies were prepared to respond to a pandemic, particularly given the unusual nature of this event, ie, scope, scale, and length of response. While emergency management agencies at every level of government have been involved in the COVID-19 response, state-level governments have taken on a prominent and atypical leadership role. This study assesses the extent and role that emergency management agencies planned for a pandemic scenario. Understanding the extent to which state-level emergency management agencies planned for an event like the COVID-19 pandemic and what they anticipated their roles to provide insight for future revisions in pandemic planning. This study addresses two related research questions: RQ 1: To what extent did state-level emergency management agencies account for a pandemic in emergency management response plans prior to COVID-19? RQ 2: What was the planned role of state-level emergency management agencies in the response to a pandemic? An analysis of state-level emergency management plans found that, although all states with available emergency management response plans included pandemics, there was significant variation in the extent of the inclusion, and the role prescribed for emergency management. Public health and emergency management response plans were congruent with respect to the planned role of emergency management.

Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) funding allocations and relevance for US disaster policy

“…The dynamic nature of federalism in the United States is important for understanding disaster policies and funding structures. The current disaster responses and policies produced by federalism have become increasingly varied, partisan, and inequitable, most evident during the height of the COVID‐19 pandemic (Savitt et al, 2023). This policy variance has produced significantly different results for communities with higher social vulnerability (Page‐Tan & Corbin, 2021).…”

Specialty grand challenge: emergency health services

“…Expanding human development is also leading to new challenges, such as outbreaks of novel zoonotic infectious diseases in the human population. The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic is a reflection of the potential scale and devastating impact on an individual, community, and worldwide level, placing tremendous strain on our acute care infrastructure and emergency health services systems (44,45).…”

Evacuation route planning in disaster situations

“…Examples include incidents like building fires and explosions. One study [1] highlights the importance of pre-event planning for effective disaster response and evaluates how emergency management agencies were prepared for COIVD-19 pandemic. Both types of disasters, whether natural or human-induced, necessitate swift and coordinated responses from multiple stakeholders due to their unforeseen nature and the magnitude of their impact.…”