We aimed to investigate the private health service delivery sector’s engagement in public health emergency preparedness and response in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.

Between November 2022 and March 2023, private health care providers from registered clinics and hospitals (n = 574) and pharmacies (n = 1008) were surveyed on their participation and willingness to engage in specific public health emergency preparedness and response activities.

In Vietnam, 40% of respondents reported being engaged in emergency response between 2020 and 2022, compared to 33% in Cambodia and 25% in Laos. Provider and pharmacist participation in the COVID-19 response was largely through their own initiative and included on-the-job COVID-19 trainings, providing health information to patients, and assisting with testing and contact tracing. Respondents expressed high levels of willingness to participate in a broad range of proposed activities, particularly those from clinics or hospitals and those with previous experience.

While respondent willingness for involvement in preparedness and response is high, only a small proportion of respondents had been engaged by health authorities, revealing missed opportunities for fully leveraging private health care providers. Future policy and programmatic efforts to strengthen health security in view of more resilient mixed health systems should proactively engage private sector actors.

Evaluate factors influencing the decision-making processes of school administrators and investigate the existence and use of emergency operations plans (EOPs) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Using survey data representative of US K-12 public schools in 2022, the prevalence of 16 factors that influenced reporting school administrators’ COVID-19 prevention strategy implementation decision-making (Wave 4; N = 399) and the presence and use of school EOPs (Wave 5; N = 400) are presented overall and by urban-rural classification, poverty level, and school level. Qualitative interviews were conducted with a subset of school administrators and used thematic analysis to understand factors influencing implementation of prevention strategies and emergency preparedness.

School district requirements or recommendations (81.6%) was the top reported factor influencing decisions on the use of COVID-19 prevention strategies. Although most schools created or updated their EOP during the 2021/2022 school year (78.1%), only 26.7% implemented or exercised an EOP during the COVID-19 pandemic. Themes from qualitative analysis focused on factors influencing the implementation of prevention strategies, limitations of current EOPs, and importance of continuous investment in school preparedness.

Investing in actions to improve schools’ capacity to respond to emergencies such as developing comprehensive EOPs, building partnerships, and defining roles and responsibilities is important.

To identify changes in emergency department (ED) use in Houston, TX during the mid-summer Hurricane Beryl-induced power outage to inform future targeted public health interventions.

Syndromic surveillance system ED visit daily counts for total visits, heat-related illness, carbon monoxide poisoning, acute cardiac condition, stroke, dialysis, and medication refills post-hurricane were statistically compared to the 2 weeks prior and plotted alongside the percentage of the population with power outage.

Daily ED visits post-storm were statistically higher (P< 0.05) than the 2 weeks prior for total visits and acute cardiac events (Day 1, 2); heat-related illness (Day 1-3); dialysis (Day 0-3); and carbon monoxide poisoning and medication refill (Day 1-9).

While 50% of the city experienced power outages from high winds, total ED visits, acute cardiac events, and heat-related illness were statistically higher in the first 3 days after Beryl than expected. Houston developed targeted messaging to mitigate these events in future disasters.

About 13% of pregnant women with substance use disorder (SUD) receive treatment and many may encounter challenges in accessing perinatal care, making it critical for this population to receive uninterrupted care during a global pandemic.

From October 2021-January 2022, we conducted an online survey of pregnant and postpartum women and interviews with clinicians who provide care to this population. The survey was administered to pregnant and postpartum women who used substances or received SUD treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Two hundred and ten respondents completed the survey. All respondents experienced pandemic-related barriers to routine health care services, including delays in prenatal care and SUD treatment. Disruptions in treatment were due to patient factors (38.2% canceled an appointment) and clinic factors (25.5% had a clinic cancel their appointment). Respondents were generally satisfied with telehealth (M = 3.97, SD = 0.82), though half preferred a combination of in-person and telehealth visits. Clinicians reported telehealth improved health care access for patients, however barriers were still observed.

Although strategies were employed to mitigate barriers in care during COVID-19, pregnant and postpartum women who used substances still experienced barriers in receiving consistent care. Telehealth may be a useful adjunct to enhance care access for pregnant and postpartum women during public health crises.

The roles and responsibilities of the public health emergency preparedness (PHEP) and response workforce have changed since the last iteration of competencies developed in 2010. This project aims to identify current competencies (i.e., knowledge, skills, and abilities) for the PHEP workforce, as well as all public health staff who may contribute to a response.

Five focus groups with members of the PHEP workforce across the US focused on their experiences with workforce needs in preparedness and response activities. Focus group transcripts were thematically analyzed using qualitative methods to identify key competencies needed in the workforce.

The focus groups revealed 7 domains: attitudes and motivations; collaboration; communications; data collection and analysis; preparedness and response; leadership and management; and public health foundations. Equity and social justice was identified as a cross-cutting theme across all domains.

Broad validation of competencies through ongoing engagement with the PHEP practice and academic communities is necessary. Competencies can be used to inform the design of PHEP educational programs and PHEP program development. Implementation of an up-to-date, validated competency model can help the workforce better prepare for and respond to disasters and emergencies.

Few empirical studies have examined the collective impact of and interplay between individual factors on collaborative outcomes during major infectious disease outbreaks and the direct and interactive effects of these factors and their underlying mechanisms. Therefore, this study investigates the effects and underlying mechanisms of emergency preparedness, support and assurance, task difficulty, organizational command, medical treatment, and epidemic prevention and protection on collaborative outcomes during major infectious disease outbreaks.

A structured questionnaire was distributed to medical personnel with experience in responding to major infectious disease outbreaks. SPSS software was used to perform the statistical analysis. Structural equation modeling was conducted using AMOS 24.0 to analyze the complex relationships among the study variables.

Organizational command, medical treatment, and epidemic prevention and protection had significant and positive impacts on collaborative outcomes. Emergency preparedness and supportive measures positively impacted collaborative outcomes during health crises and were mediated through organizational command, medical treatment, and epidemic prevention and protection.

The results underscore the critical roles of organizational command, medical treatment, and epidemic prevention and protection in achieving positive collaborative outcomes during health crises, with emergency preparedness and supportive measures enhancing these outcomes through the same key factors.

A public health emergency was declared for the opioid crisis in 2017 and remains in place. Between 2017-2024, there were 164 billion dollar disasters. People who use drugs (PWUDs) are highly susceptible to disasters; however adaptive capacity of opioid treatment programs (OTP) is not well understood. Identifying and addressing gaps to increase resilience and reduce morbidity and mortality among PWUDs is critical.

A semi-structured interview guide with 8 questions was developed to assess how disasters impact service provision and other aspects of OTPs. OTP leaders, government officials, community health navigators, and advocates received an email invitation to complete an interview via Zoom. Transcripts were independently hand coded to inductively identify themes.

Eleven interviews were completed. Four themes were identified including client challenges securing housing and reliable transportation, disaster-related communication barriers, stigma around help seeking, and issues related to policies and practices such as regulations and insurance coverage that are inflexible during a disaster.

Disruptions to OTPs during disasters require preparedness planning adaptations like more flexible guest dosing. The ongoing public health emergency of the opioid epidemic and the increasing frequency and severity of climate and weather emergencies requires adaptations to a highly regulated system to address vulnerabilities.

Disaster management strategies often emphasize technical and structural solutions, overlooking the sociocultural factors that shape community resilience and disaster response. In Malaysia, a multiethnic and multireligious country frequently affected by floods and monsoon storms, cultural beliefs, social networks, and traditional practices play a pivotal role in shaping disaster preparedness and recovery. This study examines how religious beliefs, community cohesion, gender roles, and traditional knowledge influence disaster management in Malaysia.

A qualitative research approach was employed, utilizing semi-structured interviews with 15 stakeholders from diverse ethnic, religious, and social backgrounds. Participants, represented various religious groups and geographic areas. Their roles included local leaders, government officials, NGO workers, and community members, providing insights into how sociocultural factors influence disaster response and policy.

Religious beliefs serve as both a source of resilience and a potential barrier, shaping community attitudes toward disaster preparedness. Community cohesion, particularly through gotong-royong (mutual aid), plays a crucial role in mobilizing resources and support, though it often excludes marginalized groups. Gender roles significantly influence disaster response, with women taking on caregiving responsibilities yet remaining underrepresented in decision-making processes. Traditional knowledge remains valuable, particularly in rural communities, but faces challenges as younger generations increasingly rely on modern technologies.

This study highlights the need for culturally sensitive, gender-inclusive, and community-driven disaster management policies in Malaysia.Integrating sociocultural dimensions into formal frameworks can foster more adaptive and inclusive strategies. Enhancing community participation and gender inclusivity will be key to improving disaster resilience in Malaysia.

To enhance the emergency response preparedness of public health professionals in Saudi Arabia, the World Health Organization Rapid Response Team Advanced Training Package (WHO RRT ATP) was adapted. It was designed to align with local cultural and operational contexts.

A 2-day workshop was conducted involving experts who reviewed and modified the adapted WHO RRT ATP training materials. The process was structured into 7 phases: needs assessment, stakeholder analysis, cultural tailoring, content adaptation, module selection, implementation planning, and evaluation framework development.

Key challenges revealed included inadequate hospital coordination, shortage of trained personnel and medical services, and insufficient knowledge of disease transmission. Core training modules were adapted, and supplementary materials were reviewed. Key considerations included addressing existing gaps, cultural sensitivity, and current outbreak trends in KSA. Participants’ feedback showed high satisfaction, with 86.7% of participants providing a mean rating of 4.77 on day 1 and 80% of participants giving an average rating of 4.67 on day 2 on a Likert scale of 1-5.

Cultural and country needs were key factors in the workshop’s successful outcomes. The adapted training program is anticipated to significantly enhance the preparedness of health care professionals in KSA to manage public health emergencies.

In the course of the EU funded Pandemic Preparedness and Response (PANDEM-2) project, a functional exercise (FX) was conducted to train the coordinated response to a large-scale pandemic event in Europe by using new IT solutions developed by the project. This report provides an overview of the steps involved in planning, conducting, and evaluating the FX.

The FX design was based on the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) simulation exercise cycle for public health settings and was carried out over 2 days in the German and Dutch national public health institutes (PHI), with support from other consortium PHIs. The planning team devised an inject list based on a scenario script describing the emergence of an influenza pandemic from a novel H5N1 pathogen.

The multi-disciplinary participant teams included 11 Dutch and 6 German participants. The FX was supported by 9 international project partners from 8 countries. Overall, participants and observers agreed that the FX goals were achieved.

The FX was a suitable format to test the PANDEM-2 solutions in 2 different country set-ups. It demonstrated the benefit of regular simulation exercises at member state level to test and practice public health emergency responses to be better prepared for real-life events.

Italy often experiences major events, such as earthquakes, floods, and migrant shipwrecks. Current and future global challenges for health workers are made up by climate change, pandemics, and wars. In this work, we will assess the state-of-art of training and interest towards these challenges among Italian post-degree public health schools.

A cross-sectional survey was conducted in Italy in June 2023 among Italian public health residents. The study investigated training levels and updates regarding emergencies in Italian residencies. It also analyzed interest and importance of topic, impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and sources of information.

Of 289 respondents, 86.2% deemed the topic important and 74.4% expressed interest. 90.1% pointed out the lack of dedicated courses and 93.1% of specialized master’s programs. Perceived importance in the topic was associated with the desire to attend dedicated conferences. As for COVID-19, 24.6% recognized the importance of this topic pre-pandemic, while 50.9% raised awareness during the pandemic.

This survey shows the need for the offer of emergency training programs in Italian public health schools. Professionals in public health can make a great contribution to emergencies, not only in preparedness, but also in response and recovery phases.