Public Health Preparedness for the World's Largest Mass Gathering: 2010 World Exposition in Shanghai, China

Measuring the Efficacy of a Pilot Public Health Intervention for Engaging Communities of Puerto Rico to Rapidly Write Hurricane Protection Plans

OBJECTIVE

The efficacy is measured for a public health intervention related to community-based planning for population protection measures (PPMs; ie, shelter-in-place and evacuation).

DESIGN

This is a mixed (qualitative and quantitative) prospective study of intervention efficacy, measured in terms of usability related to effectiveness, efficiency, satisfaction, and degree of community engagement.

SETTING

Two municipalities in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico are included.

PARTICIPANTS

Community members consisting of individuals; traditional leaders; federal, territorial, and municipal emergency managers; municipal mayors; National Guard; territorial departments of education, health, housing, public works, and transportation; health care; police; Emergency Medical Services; faith-based organizations; nongovernmental organizations (NGOs); and the private sector.

INTERVENTION

The intervention included four community convenings: one for risk communication; two for plan-writing; and one tabletop exercise (TTX). This study analyzed data collected from the project work plan; participant rosters; participant surveys; workshop outputs; and focus group interviews.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Efficacy was measured in terms of ISO 9241-11, an international standard for usability that includes effectiveness, efficiency, user satisfaction, and "freedom from risk" among users. Degree of engagement was considered an indicator of "freedom from risk," measurable through workshop attendance.

RESULTS

Two separate communities drafted and exercised ~60-page-long population protection plans, each within 14.5 hours. Plan-writing workshops completed 100% of plan objectives and activities. Efficiency rates were nearly the same in both communities. Interviews and surveys indicated high degrees of community satisfaction. Engagement was consistent among community members and variable among governmental officials.

CONCLUSIONS

Frontline communities have successfully demonstrated the ability to understand the environmental health hazards in their own community; rapidly write consensus-based plans for PPMs; participate in an objective-based TTX; and perform these activities in a bi-lingual setting. This intervention appears to be efficacious for public use in the rapid development of community-based PPMs.

Emergency preparedness for mass gatherings: Lessons of "12.31" stampede in Shanghai Bund

According to WHO, one of these mass gatherings with critical risk is stampedes. Shanghai "12.31" stampede was a preventable tragedy that the government and event planner hold responsibility for. At the same time, it can be a legacy for improvement in the future. The government should draw experience on the implementation of an emergency preparedness system, in order to improve the rapid emergency response during mass gatherings in the future.

Developing Legacy: Health Planning in the Host City of Porto Alegre for the 2014 Football World Cup

Aim

To describe the process adopted to identify, classify, and evaluate legacy of health care planning in the host city of Porto Alegre for the Football World Cup 2014.

Background

There is an emerging interest in the need to demonstrate a sustainable health legacy from mass gatherings investments. Leaving a public health legacy for future host cities and countries is now an important part of planning for these events.

Process

The Ministry of Sports initiated and coordinated the development of projects in the host cities to identify actions, projects, and constructions to be developed to prepare for the World Cup. In Porto Alegre, a common structure was developed by the coordinating team to instruct legacy identification, classification, and evaluation. This structure was based on international documentary analysis (including official reports, policy documents, and web-based resources) and direct communication with recognized experts in the field.

Findings and Interpretation

Sixteen total legacies were identified for health surveillance (5) and health services (11). They were classified according to the strategic area, organizations involved, dimension, typology, planned or unplanned, tangible or intangible, territorial coverage, and situation prior to the World Cup. Possible impacts were then assessed as positive, negative, and potentiating, and mitigating actions were indicated.

Conclusions

The project allowed the identification, classification, and development of health legacy, including risk analysis, surveillance, mitigation measures, and provision of emergency medical care. Although the project intended the development of indicators to measure the identified legacies, evaluation was not possible at the time of publication due to time.

WittRR, KotlharMK, MesquitaMO, LimaMADS, MarinSM, DayCB, BandeiraAG, HuttonA. Developing legacy: health planning in the host city of Porto Alegre for the 2014 Football World Cup. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2015;30(6):613–617.

New digital technologies for the surveillance of infectious diseases at mass gathering events

Outbreaks of infectious diseases at mass gatherings can strain the health system of the host region and pose a threat to local and global health. In addition to strengthening existing surveillance systems, most host nations also use novel technologies to assess disease risk and augment traditional surveillance approaches. We review novel approaches to disease surveillance using the Internet, mobile phone applications, and wireless sensor networks. These novel approaches to disease surveillance can result in prompt detection.

An innovative approach to capability-based emergency operations planning

This paper describes the innovative use information technology for assisting disaster planners with an easily-accessible method for writing and improving evidence-based emergency operations plans.

This process is used to identify all key objectives of the emergency response according to capabilities of the institution, community or society. The approach then uses a standardized, objective-based format, along with a consensus-based method for drafting capability-based operational-level plans. This information is then integrated within a relational database to allow for ease of access and enhanced functionality to search, sort and filter and emergency operations plan according to user need and technological capacity.

This integrated approach is offered as an effective option for integrating best practices of planning with the efficiency, scalability and flexibility of modern information and communication technology.

Public Health Preparedness for the World's Largest Mass Gathering: 2010 World Exposition in Shanghai, China

The 2010 World Exposition in Shanghai China (Expo) was the largest mass gathering in world history, attracting a record 72 million visitors. More than 190 countries participated in the Expo, along with more than 50 international organizations. The 2010 Expo was six months in duration (May 1 through October 30, 2010), and the size of the venue site comprised 5.28 square kilometers. Great challenges were imposed on the public health system in Shanghai due to the high number and density of visitors, long duration of the event, and other risk factors such as high temperatures, typhoon, etc.

As the major metropolitan public health agency in Shanghai, the Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention (SCDC) implemented a series of actions in preparing for, and responding to, the potential health impact of the world's largest mass gathering to date, which included partnerships for capacity building, enhancement of internal organizational structure, risk assessment, strengthened surveillance, disaster planning and exercises, laboratory management, vaccination campaign, health education, health intervention, risk communication and mass media surveillance, and technical support for health inspection. The clear-cut organizational structures and job responsibilities, as well as comprehensive operational and scientific preparations, were key elements to ensure the success of the 2010 World Exposition.

YiH, Zheng'anY, FanW, XiangG, ChenD, YongchaoH, XiaodongS, HaoP, MahanyM, KeimM. Public health preparedness for the world's largest mass gathering: 2010 World Exposition in Shanghai, China. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2012;27(6):1-6.