Emergency Preparedness Overview
NAPH members represent just 2 percent of the U.S. hospital industry but 44 percent of the nation’s burn care units. In fact, many public hospitals offer the only poison or burn center in their states. NAPH members also provide the only Level I trauma care centers, or the only trauma centers of any level, in 29 cities.
Given the relationship between public hospitals and local government, it is not surprising that NAPH members have taken leadership roles in responding to such large scale emergencies as the Haiti earthquake (2010), H1N1 outbreaks (2008 and 2009), Minneapolis bridge collapse (2007), Seattle windstorm (2006), Hurricane Katrina (2005), and the Northeastern Blackout (2003).
NPHHI’s first major research project examining emergency preparedness of the health care safety net was in 2007, when it conducted a comprehensive study to identify related issues and concerns for large urban safety net hospitals.
The study resulted in several key findings:
- Public hospitals provide a disproportionate amount of emergency services;
- Public hospitals’ response to an emergency depends upon internal readiness;
- Because of their relationship with state and local government, NAPH members play an important role in their communities’ emergency preparedness planning;
- NAPH members have limited access to resources for preparedness planning.