National seminar 'Making hospitals and rural health centers safer from disasters'

Part of a two-year campaign, launched by Saritsa Foundation, 'Safer schools, safer hospitals, and safer Mumbaikars' - an urban risk reduction initiative - 'making cities resilient to disasters and impacts of climate change' commenced on 14th October 2009.

The campaign plans to build the capacity of 30,0000 school children from 100 Schools, 7,500 youth and volunteers through 75 workshops, 1000 women as trainers and motivators, 500 persons with disabilities and 250 health services staff through a national seminar on 'making hospitals safer from disasters'. 

Aim of the seminar:

The seminar aims to evaluate hospital preparedness norms for disasters and emergencies and enhance the capacity of health sector professionals in science and practice of health facilities preparedness and risk reduction

Seminar Theme:

1. Making hospitals and health facilities safe from disasters is an essential dimension of resilient cities-evolution of action plans for structural requirements, national buildings codes and mechanism for retrofitting including financial implications.
2. Safer hospitals from disasters are a collective responsibility – integration of local authorities, emergency and disaster management agencies and civil society organization including community health workers- an analysis.
3. Saving hospitals and health facilities from a severe earthquake - a study for mega cities including preparation by health workers.
4. Preparing hospitals for terrorism including chemical, biological and nuclear emergencies.
5. Evolution of standard operating procedures for information management and communication in disaster and emergencies.
6. Integrating field mobile hospitals and international field mobile hospitals in a scenario of mass casualty in disasters.
7. Evolving action plans for urban and rural health centre to minimize risks from cyclone with special reference to coastal areas.
8. Making hospitals and hospital facilities resilient to vulnerabilities of floods in urban and rural areas – discussion.
9. Building bottom up resilient partnership with community to minimize loss of lives in disaster and epidemics - learning to act to together and analyse.
10. Trauma management in disasters.
11. Organization of relief and recovery of hospital facilities and services after disasters
12. Health care waste management an important dimension of disaster management for safer hospitals.
13. Assessing accessibility and connectivity of hospitals with nodes of transportation net work in mega cities (Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata) - developing mechanism to cope with evacuation of mass casualties in disasters.

Call for Papers:

Abstracts should be sent by 15th October 2010 from prospective paper presenters. An abstract of 500 words may be submitted by email to: [email protected].

Please provide the following details:
- Title of the paper
- Names (affiliations)
- Address/ e-mails of authors

Key Conference dates:

- Last date of submitting abstracts is 15 October 2010.
- Intimation of accepting of abstract is 20 October 2010.
- Last date for submission for full length paper of 2,500 words is 31 October 2010.
- Conference dates are 24 and 25 November 2010.

Deliverables

This seminar shall create shared understanding among people in governance, experts, NGOs, practitioners, hospital service staff and the community to learn from successful approaches which shall be analysed collectively.

There shall be an endeavour to put forward a set of clear and succinct ideas to sensitize and adapt to a new road map to 'Make hospitals and rural health centres safe from disaster' collectively to make India resilient to disasters.

Some of the quantifiable impacts shall be:

• All participants will be sensitized to raise awareness and be trainers and motivators for making hospitals and rural health centres safer from disasters in their cities, towns and villages. The people in governance, local disaster management authorities and representatives of health and medical services and communities will learn the importance to act jointly.

• The Seminar will deliberate on structural and non-structural dimensions to make hospitals and rural health centres safer which will help the participants to evolve plan and drills for responding to disasters in their areas.

• The Seminar will adequately high light the importance to organize workshops for training of doctors, nurses and paramedics staff as a priority area to reduce risks from disaster to protect themselves and patients of their hospitals.