« Previous | Contents | Next »
Listen
MANAGING INCIDENTS PRESENTING ACTUAL
OR POTENTIAL RISKS TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH:
Guidance on the Roles and Responsibilities of Incident Control Teams
DEFINITIONS AND KEY PRINCIPLES
Definitions
Hazards and exposures
The broad categories of agents which endanger health (hazards) and how we come into contact with them (exposures) are presented in below.
Hazards | Exposures |
Biological
Chemical
Radiation
Physical
| Person to person
Food
Water
Air
Animal
Environmental |
Biological hazards are mainly micro-organisms e.g. viruses, which cause infections. Most public health incidents involve actual or potential exposure to micro-organisms. However chemical incidents, e.g. spills and fires, are not uncommon.
Outbreaks and Incidents
An outbreak is defined either as two or more linked cases of the same illness (i.e. associated in person, place or time) or as a situation when the observed number of cases of an illness unaccountably exceeds the expected number.
An
incident is defined as:
a single case of a serious illness with major public health implications (e.g. botulism, viral haemorrhagic fever, vCJD) where action is necessary to investigate and prevent ongoing exposure to the hazardous agent;
a situation where there is a high likelihood of a population being exposed to a hazard (e.g. a chemical or infectious agent) at levels sufficient to cause illness, even though no cases have yet occurred (e.g. a major contamination of the drinking water supply);
the circumstance when it is recognised that two or more linked cases of unexplained illness could indicate the possibility that they may both be caused by the same known or unknown agent or exposure.
An
incident control team (ICT) is a multidisciplinary, multi-agency group with responsibility for investigating an outbreak or incident and implementing control measures.
Key Principles
Key principles of Incident Management • A state of preparedness • Clarity of purpose and integrated working • An early and effective response • Effective communication with the public and among agencies • Learning from experience |
A
state of preparedness - the management of outbreaks and incidents should not be regarded as an activity relevant exclusively to an emergency response but should be integrated into an NHS Board's overall health protection arrangements. Effective working on a day to day basis in the surveillance, prevention, treatment and control of illnesses related to exposure to hazards coupled with sufficient capacity in these services to respond to unforeseen increases in demand will facilitate an effective response to an outbreak or incident.
Clarity of purpose and integrated working - No single agency can deal with a public health incident. NHS Boards should jointly with local authorities and other partners draw up co-ordinated outbreak/incident plans, protocols and procedures, which should be regularly updated. These should include the capability of involving other neighbouring and national agencies should this be necessary.
An
early and effective response - the prompt detection and response to an actual or potential public health incident is crucial. Front-line medical and laboratory staff should be aware of and competent to diagnose illnesses likely to present immediate public health risks. Epidemiological systems should be capable of distinguishing clusters of cases requiring further investigation and control. Systems for monitoring food, water and air quality should be able to detect the presence of hazards likely to endanger public health. NHS Boards should ensure that mechanisms are in place to collect and collate information from these sources, to take prompt decisions on the nature and levels of risks to public health and to co-ordinate action from a range of agencies to reduce these.
Effective communication with the public and among agencies - widespread public anxiety can be a result of outbreaks and incidents. NHS Boards must ensure that the public are kept fully and appropriately informed about public health incidents. They must co-ordinate the reporting of incidents to a network of local professionals and national agencies and ensure effective media handling. Systems should be in place to enable the rapid transfer of information on public health incidents. Those charged with managing incidents should regularly report on progress to the agencies to which they are accountable.
Learning from experience - those involved in managing incidents should evaluate and report on the efficiency and effectiveness of their efforts. National agencies should co-ordinate information on public health incidents and disseminate it to interested parties, so that the whole service can learn from the experience of others.
« Previous | Contents | Next »