The Emergency Operations unit of the Health Emergencies department provides technical and operational support to countries to ensure that emergency-affected populations have access to an essential package of quality life-saving health services. It also focuses on building institutional capacity to respond to emergencies and continuously enhancing the Organization’s systems, policies and processes to ensure a more predictable and effective response to health emergencies.
Major action lines:
Development of strategic response and joint operations plans to guide response operations.
Implementation of response operations, including the coordination of the Global Outbreak and Alert Response network (GOARN) and other health partners, such as Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs), NGOs, Red Cross Societies and United Nations specialized agencies.
Maintenance of full operational capacity of PAHO’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC).
Activation and implementation of emergency response mechanisms in accordance with PAHO’s Policy and Procedures of the Institutional Response to Emergencies and Disasters (IRED), including full support to the Incident Management System.
Areas of work
Resources
Expansion of services offered in health emergencies and disasters
This course provides information on measures for the reorganization and expansion of health services necessary in the face of increased demand for patient care generated by health emergencies and disasters, or damage to structural or non-structural components that may be caused by events that compromise the operation of health services.
*Available in Spanish
Incident Management System for Hospitals
This course provides a framework for first responders to implement the Incident Management System for Hospitals to address incidents of any size and complexity.
*Available in Spanish