Are Emergency Services’ Emergency Operation Centres COVID-19 Ready?

Authors

  • Alan Mclean Flinders University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31646/gbio.97

Keywords:

operations centres, COVID-19, emergency services,

Abstract

Emergency operation centres (EOC) that provide triage, dispatch, command and control for ambulance, police or fire services are considered critical state infrastructure. They provide access to and control of life saving services and are required to be fully operational 24/7. Even minor disruptions to their operations of only a few minutes can potentially result in sever adverse outcomes or deaths within the community. As the COVID-19 is caused by a novel virus it raises questions regarding the bio security preparedness of these facilities. In the absence of published research related EOC operations during a pandemic this paper looks at the emerging public health evidence and how this can be translated into EOC operations.

Author Biography

Alan Mclean, Flinders University

Alan has over 45 year experience in health as a clinician, and more than 25 years in healthcare management. His health career started in pre-hospital care as a paramedic, and then intensive care paramedic, and included roles in infection prevention and control, immunisations and staff health. He has held management poisons in Clinical Management, Clinical Education, Industrial Relations, Infection Control, Clinical Safety and Quality, Occupational Health and Safety, and Operations Management. Alan has been involved in infection prevention and control, pandemic planning and first responder preparation at an organisational, state and national level. Alan’s other previous professional positions include Executive Director, Australasian College for Infection Prevention and Control; President, SA Accident and Emergency Association; and is currently a coordinator for SA/NT and national examiner for the Fellowship Program of the Australasian College of Health Service Management. Alan currently holds a Senior Lecturers position in the Department of Health Care Management, College of Business, Government & Law at Flinders University and lectures in healthcare management in both Adelaide and China. Alan holds a Bachelor of Health Sciences, a Master of Health Administration and a Doctor of Public Health and is a Fellow of the Australasian College of Health Service Management.

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Published

2020-12-02

How to Cite

Mclean, A. (2020). Are Emergency Services’ Emergency Operation Centres COVID-19 Ready?. Global Biosecurity, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.31646/gbio.97

Issue

Vol. 3 (2021)

Section

Rapid Reports and Perspectives From the Field

License

Copyright (c) 2020 The Author(s)

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Received 2020-11-13
Accepted 2020-11-13
Published 2020-12-02