Healthcare systems, as one of the key public infrastructures, have arisen more concerns to the society after September 11. This paper presents a preliminary study of healthcare system preparedness within a county level if a bioterrorist attack occurs. Discrete event simulation model was developed to evaluate the staff utilization and resource capability for such hypothetical bioterrorist attack...

Preparedness scenarios project the need for significant healthcare surge capacity. Current planning draws heavily from the military model, leveraging deployable infrastructure to augment or replace extant capabilities. This approach would likely prove inadequate in a catastrophic disaster, as the military model relies on forewarning and an extended deployment cycle. Local equipping for surge ca...

A novel influenza A (H1N1) virus detected in April 2009 rapidly spread around the world. North American provincial and state laboratories have well-defined roles and responsibilities, including providing accurate, timely test results for patients and information for regional public health and other decision makers. We used the multidisciplinary response and rapid implementation of process chang...

The ovulatory LH surge induces dramatic molecular and structural changes in follicular environment, culminating with follicle rupture and release of a mature oocyte. This review addresses the pre-LH surge events associated with the ovulatory process, such as dominant follicle differentiation and acquisition of ovulatory capacity, as well as autocrine and paracrine factors induced after the LH s...

INTRODUCTION With limited available hospital beds in most urban areas, there are very few options when trying to relocate patients already within the hospital to make room for incoming patients from a mass-casualty incident (MCI) or epidemic (a patient surge). This study investigates the possibility and process for utilizing shuttered (closed or former) hospitals to accept medically stable, amb...

BACKGROUND Hospital administrators play a key role in the effective management of surge capacity in disasters, but there is little information available about the characteristics required to manage this. OBJECTIVES In this study, we aimed to identify characteristics of hospital administrators that are important in the effective management of surge capacity in disasters. MATERIALS AND METHOD...