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The Emergency Preparedness and Disease Control Team engage in emergency planning and response preparedness for the purpose of enabling Community and Public Health to meet its statutory obligation to provide a robust public health response to all emergencies.
What Constitutes an Emergency for Community and Public Health?
An emergency is an unexpected adverse event that overwhelms the available public health resources or capabilities at a local and regional level. Examples of Public Health Emergencies are:
- Biological: including influenza pandemic and communicable disease outbreaks such as norovirus, legionnaires disease, cryptosporidium
- Natural: including meteorological (flooding) and geological (earthquakes, tsunamis)
- Technological: including chemical spillages and hazardous substance incidents, air pollution, transport/mass casualty incidents, and loss of lifelines (power, water, sewerage as a result of any event)
Examples of How Biological, Natural and Technological Emergencies Adversely Affect Public Health
- Pandemic influenza is easily transmitted between people, causes widespread serious illness in the community and, depending upon the severity of the virus, may result in the death of many people who contract the infection.
- Flooding, earthquakes and tsunamis cause drinking water to become polluted, food to be contaminated, and power lines to be brought down, leaving people without heating and cooking facilities. Such events are very detrimental to public health.
- Chemical spillages may pollute streams and rivers and/or contaminate the atmosphere, thus causing people to become unwell.
Preparing for Public Health Emergencies
It is a proven fact that pre-disaster planning and interagency liaison can improve preparedness and reduce the overall impacts on the public health during emergency events. Consequently, the Emergency Response and Disease Control Team prepare for all types of emergencies by:
- compiling and regularly reviewing emergency response plans e.g. Influenza Pandemic Plan
- providing/facilitating emergency response training for staff
- participating in public health related emergency exercises
- consulting Ministry of Health Advisors
- regularly meeting/liaising with regional and council civil defence emergency management leaders; emergency services senior personnel; health related emergency planners throughout the South Island; and lifelines managers
- disseminating advice to the public via the media, websites and distribution of Ministry of Health pamphlets
Responding to Public Health Emergencies
During emergency events, Emergency Response and Disease Control Team members will liaise closely with the Civil Defence Emergency Coordination Centres, in order to assess the health related situation. In some emergency situations the Community and Public Health response role will be limited to providing advice to the public by means of the radio, newspapers and websites. In other circumstances, our Medical Officers of Health may invoke their special legislative powers to help fight the spread of disease and protect the health of the public by requisitioning property; boarding, inspecting and detaining ships and aircraft; closing schools; prohibiting public gatherings; issuing quarantine notices etc.
Success Stories
Norovirus Outbreak at International Scout Jamboree
 At the start of 2008, Christchurch hosted an International Scout Jamboree with 4500 scouts participating. On the first day, nine scouts were diagnosed as suffering from Norovirus, a highly contagious virus that causes severe stomach upsets, vomiting and diarrhoea. It was initially expected that up to 25% of the scouts would become infected.
A Medical Officer of Health, assisted by Community and Public Health staff, coordinated the response to the outbreak which involved medical, nursing and paramedic staff from various agencies, including Canterbury District Health Board, St. John Ambulance, New Zealand Army, and Red Cross, and assistance was sought from Civil Defence Emergency Management.
As a result of good hygiene control measures being put in place, health advice being given to the Scout Leaders, and excellent inter-agency collaboration, the outbreak was successfully contained, with only 138 scouts being infected.
Influenza A (H1N1) Swine Flu
Following confirmation of the first cases of Influenza A(H1N1), commonly known as swine flu, in the North Island on 25 April 2009, Community and Public Health immediately embarked upon a containment strategy which comprised:
- border Management Control at Christchurch International Airport
- the use of isolation , quarantine and provision of Tamiflu for treatment of laboratory confirmed cases and contacts
- issue of Public Health information to the media, accommodation providers, bus companies and taxi drivers etc.
This strategy resulted in community transmission being delayed for 6 weeks, thus giving both Primary Care (General Practices) and Christchurch Hospital much needed time to make arrangements for the inevitable influx of cases, given the rampant global spread of the virus.
Ongoing Priority - planning for an influenza pandemic
Owing to the expected and imminent arrival of the second wave of Influenza A (H1N1) 2009, commonly referred to as ‘swine flu’, and the continuing presence and development of H5N1 avian influenza in Asia, Community and Public Health continue to prioritise preparing for another influenza pandemic.
Accordingly, people should continue making plans for the possible occurrence of an influenza pandemic. For example, they should have an emergency supply kit, a store of long-lasting food and drinks to last for at least a week, and a ready-to-hand list of telephone numbers which includes that of their doctor and neighbours. More information can be found on the Pandemic Planning webpage.
Downloads - hard copies available from the Community Health Information Centre
 Protecting your Health in an Emergency
Getting Ready for a Flu Pandemic
Kia Mataara! Be Prepared!
Links
Get Thru It
Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management (MCDEM)
Ministry of Economic Development
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