Disaster Response and Recovery: Strategies and Tactics Term Paper

Complex Systems Thinking, Organization Theory, and Behavior, Leadership Theories and Roles

Florida is one of the coastal states which are susceptible to hurricane disasters. Hurricane Michael that hit this state in October 2018 was one of the worst to make landfall in the United States, with a speed of 250 km/h (Elder, 2019).

The report indicates that 72 people lost their lives while properties worth over 25 billion were destroyed. As one of the leading healthcare centers in Florida, Saint Leo University Hospital must develop disaster preparedness and response plan that will help deal with such emergencies. Embracing the concept of complex system thinking can assist in the development of a disaster preparedness and response plan.

System theory explains the interdisciplinary approach of addressing emergencies. The top management should define how different departments could coordinate their activities in cases of emergencies to help the affected victims. It may be necessary to gather a team from all the relevant departments within the hospital and train them on how they can work as a unit to help patients who may be suffering from varying injuries and require urgent attention from different specialists. The plan will encourage a harmonious response to such emergencies.

Organization theory and behavior focuses on the impact that groups, individuals, and structures have on human behavior in a given organization (AMEC Earth & Environmental UK Ltd, 2014). The management of this institution must understand the fact that systems and structures, which are put in place, have a direct impact on the behavior of employees.

In cases of hurricane-related emergencies, employees will be expected to embrace selflessness to save lives. McEntire (2014) explains that in most cases nurses and doctors may be required to work double shifts to ensure that the high number of patients can be attended to within the institution. Under normal circumstances, nurses and doctors would choose whether they want to work a double shift. Those who work extra hours should be given additional payments. However, when an emergency arises, there would be no time for negotiation. All employees are expected to adjust automatically and sacrifice their time to deliver the best services they can. However, such attitudes must be inculcated within the organization.

When developing a disaster preparedness and response plan, the management of Saint Leo University Hospital should prepare its nurses, doctors, clinical officers, and other relevant employees for such an emergency. Bodinab and Nohrstedt (2016) explain that embracing the concept of organizational behavior would help when drafting such plans. The attitude of employees would be defined by the response system created by the management.

For instance, the management may need to develop a small campus within the facility where the medical staff can sleep, wash, and relax without having to go home in cases of emergency. Such systems would reduce the strain of having to rush home and freshen up before coming back to work. It will influence their attitude positively by making them believe that the management is also committed to employees’ wellbeing during cases of emergency response.

Burns, Bradley, and Weiner (2012) argue that the adoption of a disaster preparedness and response plan in a healthcare facility highly depends on the attitude of those expected to implement it. The activities that doctors and nurses have to undertake require personal sacrifice and commitment that can only be realized through a positive attitude.

Leadership theories and roles are critical when developing such plans. When an organization is responding to an emergency, Burgan (2017) argues that it has to go beyond standard practices. Parties involved must understand that they are expected to double their daily output to achieve the set goals. In cases of a hurricane disaster, nurses and doctors would be forced to attend to numerous patients beyond what would be considered a normal number.

Leadership plays a critical role in ensuring that such goals are realized. Effective leadership theories, such as transformational leadership, would be needed instead of coercing employees to deliver the extra output. This theory explains that people tend to perform optimally when they are motivated as opposed to being forced to produce good results (Bodinab & Nohrstedt, 2016). The top management unit of this hospital should define the roles of different parties involved in disaster management.

It should be stated who needs to undertake which task and individuals who will be responsible for coordinating the implementation of the plan should be assigned. Defining the roles of different stakeholders also eliminate cases where some tasks remain undone because of poor planning.

Organization Design and Coordination, Motivation

The organizational design would inform the development, adoption, and execution of disaster preparedness and response plan at Saint Leo University Hospital in cases of the hurricane. Burgan (2017) defines organizational design as “a step-by-step methodology, which identifies dysfunctional aspects of workflow, procedures, structures, and systems realign them to fit current business realities/goals and then develops plans to implement the new changes” (p. 56).

When developing an emergency response plan, it is a standard procedure to test it to ascertain whether it functions as expected. The team can create a case of emergency during the training program to determine the actual capacity of the medical staff and the medical facility to respond to the emergency. The primary goal of such drills is not only to equip the staff with the needed skills but also to identify possible weaknesses in the system.

Organizational design is a methodological concept that would help the management of this facility to identify areas within the system that would reduce the capacity of the facility to implement the plan. It may be limited skills or experience of the medical staff, lack of equipment needed to respond to emergencies, or a poor communication system. The diagnosis should help identify all the major weaknesses.

The management would then develop a plan of overcoming these shortcomings. A response to the challenges identified may involve the further training of the staff, the purchase of additional equipment to facilitate the response, or improving the internal communication system. As McEntire (2014) puts it, the organizational design would help a firm to ensure that it is adequately prepared and equipped to deal with its primary issues of concern. It will help the hospital to address cases of medical emergencies arising from hurricane strikes in this state.

Coordination within an organization is one of the most important factors that define success. When a hospital is dealing with a medical emergency, coordination is paramount in ensuring that specific activities are carried out as per expectations. A patient may require an emergency operation to save his or her life. In normal cases, such operations would be subjected to careful planning where a surgeon, anesthesiologist, surgical technician, surgery scheduler, operating room registered nurse, and physician assistant would be involved (USAID Predict, 2016).

In cases of emergency, these experts must be present to ensure the success of the procedure, but there is often no time to develop an advance plan on how and when the procedure will be undertaken. In an emergency, the operation must be conducted immediately. Coordination is of great significance in such cases. When developing the disaster preparedness and response plan, one of the factors that must be defined in clear terms is how activities should be coordinated.

It may be necessary to identify individuals who will be assigned the role of assembling the needed experts within a short period. Such high levels of coordination require an effective communication system. Bodinab and Nohrstedt (2016) explain that in some cases it would be necessary to summon employees who are off duty to help manage the crisis.

Employees involved in the emergency response should remain motivated. According to Burns et al. (2012), sometimes doctors and nurses may be forced to remain actively involved in various medical activities for over 20 hours a day when responding to emergencies. Unlike those who work in offices, the work of a nurse and a doctor is physically demanding. Most of them have to spend most of their time at work standing or walking from one unit to another within the hospital to help patients.

Such energy-draining responsibilities may not be taken when the team is not adequately motivated. It is important to appreciate the fact that sometimes these medical staff may be motivated to help when there is a hurricane disaster.

In cases of serious emergencies that require the staff to deliver twice or three times their normal output, the management would need to make an extra effort to ensure that they remain motivated. Raungratanaamporn, Pakdeeburee, Kamiko, and Denpaiboon (2014) explain that one of the best ways of motivating employees is to introduce monetary incentives. The emphasis should not be on the material benefit they get by working extra hours but on the need to help members of the society whose lives depend on the actions taken by the medical staff.

The management should remind them that the additional pay is just an appreciation of their extra output during the emergency. Employees’ motivation sometimes goes beyond monetary benefits. Creating a workplace environment conducive to the staff enjoying working extra hours may also be another source of motivation.

Work Teams, Communication

Hurricane-related disasters do not occur frequently, as Kaynak and Tuğer (2014) observe. However, global warming and climate change are expected to increase the frequencies of cyclones around the world, especially along coastal strips. A work team is a unit of employees assigned recurring tasks to work in a semi-autonomous environment. Burgan (2017) explains that such teams are often necessary in cases where the content of the job changes frequently, making it difficult for workers who lack specific skills to cope. When developing a disaster preparedness and response plan for Saint Leo University Hospital, it is necessary to develop such work teams.

These teams will be assigned normal responsibilities within their departments where they work daily. However, they have to be ready to respond to cases of emergency when they arise. During the planning process, these teams should be created in a way that will guarantee that their departments function normally in their absence. The goal is to ensure that when these medical staff members are responding to emergencies, other patients will continue to receive the needed care within the hospital. It would be necessary to pick a reasonable number of employees from each department to be part of the work teams.

Once a work team is created, its members should be trained in disaster management to ensure that they can respond to cases of emergency. In this particular case, the team will be equipped with skills to manage victims of hurricane strikes. Doctors, nurses, and clinical officers should know what to expect in cases of such emergencies. Burns et al. (2012) explain that they should know common injuries that victims are likely to sustain, how to manage their conditions and any other initial medical care that may be needed in emergency rooms when patients are received. Another form of training that they will need is how to work under immense pressure.

It is not possible to predict the number of patients who may need urgent medical attention in cases of emergency. However, the medical staff cannot compromise on the quality just to ensure that as many patients as possible are attended to when the disaster strikes. Instead, Elder (2019) explains that they need to provide proper treatment that would make the patient overcome the danger of dying or sustaining further injuries. Once their conditions are stabilized, they can be transferred to other departments or hospitals for further specialized treatment. The goal of the team would be to put the lives of their patients out of danger.

Communication is critical when managing such teams. As was mentioned earlier, each of the team members will be working in different departments and they will only be expected to come together in cases of emergency. Proper communication will be needed to ensure that they are present when they are needed. The management of Saint Leo University Hospital has the responsibility of developing communication structures that will help in coordinating activities during emergencies. Weathermen always issue warnings about possible hurricane strikes several hours and, in some cases, days before it can make landfall.

When the government arranges to evacuate people who are at risk, the management of the hospital should prepare and equip the work teams assigned the role of responding to emergencies. Individuals identified to take part in helping victims should be assembled and the emergency department should be prepared to receive victims. Effective communication should be created among the parties involved to help monitor the situation and the kind of pressure that teams are facing (U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 2001). When it is established that the situation is worsening, additional staff may be needed to perform additional tasks within the emergency department.

The system of communication should be clearly defined. Elder (2019) explains that many institutions adopt a policy where an employer is not allowed to call an off-duty officer to report to work. The new policy has received wide support within the United States. However, it may be necessary for the management of Saint Leo University Hospital to sign a special agreement with its staff that allows these employees to be recalled in cases of emergency, especially when dealing with such a serious condition such as a hurricane.

Chan (2017) explains that when handling victims of major disasters, such as tornados, one of the biggest challenges is record taking. Some of the patients may be unconscious and without any family members to help in their identification. The hospital should have a system that allows the medical staff to assign such patients a specific code that would help in their identification. Using these codes, the staff will record the kind of medication given to them, their current condition, and further treatment or diagnosis that will be necessary based on the preliminary services offered.

Power, Politics, Conflict Management

Power and politics are some of the critical factors that should inform the development, adoption, and eventual execution of disaster preparedness and response plan at Saint Leo University Hospital. People in political offices play a critical role in defining how the country responds to emergencies. Their position of power gives them the capacity to allocate resources and to respond to cases of the hurricane in ways that may reduce fatalities (Kaynak & Tuğer, 2014).

Advancements in the field of science have made it possible to monitor the development and progress of dangerous cyclones several days before they can make landfalls. Hurricane Michael of 2018 was first identified in the high season on October 7, 2018. It was monitored closely and after four days, the government issued an alarm to the locals, especially those in coastal cities, to evacuate for their safety. It finally made landfall with a terrific speed of 250 km/h, killing 72 people in the process (Elder, 2019).

The political class and those in powerful government positions failed 72 individuals who lost their lives because it had already been predicted that the disaster would strike. The management of this hospital would need to work closely with local and federal authorities to ensure that such mistakes do not occur in the future. While the disaster preparedness and response plan developed by the hospital focuses on helping victims, the management of this healthcare facility should work with the political class and those in positions of power to avert disaster. The hospital should be involved in policy-formulation that focuses on early evacuation in cases of disasters that are about to happen.

There should be a law that forbids people from staying in regions declared to be susceptible to disasters. It means that there should be a mandatory evacuation in cases of hurricane landfall. Working closely with local authorities, the hospital can help with the evacuation process using some of its vehicles and staff. It would be easier and less costly to host some of these people while they are healthy and not in need of specialized treatment than when they have sustained life-threatening injuries (Durham College, 2015). In case the political class in Florida and other relevant authorities are unwilling to cooperate, the plan should involve working closely with other like-minded institutions to prepare for the worst-case scenario.

Conflicts may emerge when responding to disasters such as a hurricane strike. As stated previously, the disaster response plan may go beyond helping victims to ensure that people are evacuated before the strike. However, such strategies may be affected by various conflicts. According to Burns et al. (2012), some people may not be willing to move out of the comfort of their homes to be accommodated in small hostels. They may want to believe that the disaster will not pose a serious threat to their lives and their homes. Convincing such individuals to evacuate may be difficult. Conflict management skills may be needed to sway their thinking and ensure that they move to safety.

The management of this hospital should ensure that there is no conflict of interest between its plan and other initiatives put in place by the government or other agencies (Kaynak & Tuğer, 2014). The state may create hurricane safe rooms where people can be protected against some of the worst hurricane landfalls. The disaster preparedness plan of Saint Leo University Hospital should be aligned with such government plans to avoid the conflict of interest. In case the hospital feels that the strategy taken by the government might limit the ability of these individuals to have access to important medical services they may need, the team in charge of this plan should consult government agencies to address the concern.

Working closely with the political class may also help in improving access to resources needed in the emergency response. Chan (2017) explains that most hospitals are often ill-equipped to deal with emergencies. A hospital that has a bed capacity for 80 patients will be overstretched when it has to take in additional 200 patients who are victims of hurricane strikes.

During the implementation process of the plan, the hospital can appeal to the local government to avail additional resources to the hospital and to help in transferring stable patients to various other healthcare institutions to help reduce pressure on available resources. Such close coordination and elimination of conflicts will enhance the success of initiatives.

Organizational Complexity, Organizational Learning, and Innovation, Quality Improvement

Organizational complexity, organizational learning, innovation, and quality improvement often define the development, adoption, and implementation of a disaster preparedness and response plan. According to USAID Predict (2016), organizational complexity refers to the level of differentiation that exists in a given organization in terms of the organs of decision-making and structures that must be considered when developing a plan.

At Saint Leo University Hospital, the system of offering care to patients is complex, but the decision-making process depends on the institution’s top management unit. When developing a plan, the team would need to start by getting the approval of top managers. If approval is given, the next step is to define how the complex structure of offering healthcare would be integrated to ensure that victims of a hurricane could be offered the needed healthcare services.

Different specialists would be brought together to form teams that would undertake different tasks in cases of emergency. Apart from bringing together these specialists, it should also be clear how the facility should be redesigned to ensure that it can accommodate additional patients expected during the emergency.

Hurricane disasters are not common but they often do occur in the United States. It is not easy to determine the time when they may occur and their possible impact on a given area. The best that the disaster management team can do is to develop a response plan. Organizational learning is appropriate to equip the medical staff with the skills to deal with such situations. Continuous learning is needed among the staff so that they understand new concepts of managing different emergency scenarios.

Khalid and Shafiai (2015) argue that on-job training is one of the best training approaches that the management of Saint Leo University Hospital could embrace. When the teams have been identified, the management of this institution should develop regular training programs for the staff. Such training would make it possible for doctors and nurses who often do not work in the same department to work harmoniously in one unit when managing emergencies.

Inviting experts who have had an opportunity of responding to similar emergencies would help improve the capacity to adopt and implement the plan. These experts can review the plan and ensure that it is practical. They can train the staff to ensure that they understand what to expect.

Innovation should also be embraced to enhance the ability of this facility to respond to medical emergencies arising from a hurricane strike. Amy and Brandon (2015) explain that new technologies have made it possible to create a simulation of a disaster arising from a hurricane. The response teams can conduct their training in a simulated environment to enable them to have a first-hand experience of the events that often happen in cases of medical emergencies.

They can test their skills and identify possible weaknesses that would need to be addressed. Innovation would also be critical in the implementation of the plan. Medicine and blood would be needed to help victims of a hurricane strike. This facility can coordinate with other medical facilities to supply them with additional blood and medical suppliers using drones. Burns et al. (2012) observe that drones are faster and more efficient ways of delivering medical supplies such as blood and medicine.

Quality improvement is another area that should not be ignored when developing the plan. Saint Leo University Hospital has dealt with such medical emergencies arising from hurricane disasters in the past. One of the first steps that the new team should take when developing the plan is to determine the past performance of an institution. The team should identify reasons that made it impossible for the institution to perform optimally and find ways of addressing them. The goal would be to register improved performance in the future when faced with a similar scenario by eliminating possible inhibitors to success.

The quality improvement would also involve collaborating with other institutions to share the burden in cases of an emergency. Elder (2019) argues that in a healthcare setting, it is often impossible to guarantee quality services when the staff is overwhelmed. It would be necessary to work with neighboring hospitals so that they can attend to other victims in case this institution is under too much pressure. When it is not possible to transfer patients to these institutions because of the distance, arrangements can be made to bring their medical staff to work at Saint Leo University Hospital during the period of an emergency. This strategy may reduce the burden that the local staff will have to bear.

Strategic Management, Inter-organizational Collaboration, and Organizational Values/Mission/Vision

The successful development, adoption, and eventual implementation of the disaster preparedness and response plan at Saint Leo University Hospital significantly depend on strategic management, inter-organizational collaboration, organizational values, mission, and vision developed by the management. Strategic management involves the continuous planning, analysis, and assessment of different activities within an organization to achieve specific goals (O’Meara, 2011). It starts with the formulation of a plan and defining how it should be implemented. The fundamental goal in this case is to respond to medical emergencies within Florida that would arise from hurricane strikes.

For Florida is a coastal state, the threat of hurricane disasters is real and its impact can be devastation in most of the coastal cities such as Miami. The management has to develop strategic plans on how the facility should respond to emergencies by planning its medical staff, its medical equipment, and consumables needed to attend to patients. Although it may be difficult to predict when such a disaster will strike, scientific advancements in the field of earth science have made it possible to monitor its formation and progress (Khalid & Shafiai, 2015). Special facilities can get the information about a possible hurricane landfall ten days before it strikes. Within that period, measures can be put in place to deal with various emergencies.

When a region is struck by a natural disaster such as a hurricane landfall, all stakeholders are expected to work as a unit to overcome consequences. When developing the disaster preparedness and response plan, the management of Saint Leo University Hospital should be open to a possible inter-organizational collaboration with various institutions. Some of the partners can be healthcare institutions capable of offering similar services within this region.

Promise Hospital of Florida at the Village, South Bay Hospital, AdventHeath Waterman, Florida Hospital Memorial Plaza and Central Florida Regional Hospital are some of the hospitals that are relatively close to Saint Leo Hospital.

Instead of acting alone, this institution can work with the mentioned ones to develop a response plan where they may coordinate their activities. For instance, they can form an agreement where patients that need specialized treatment are transferred to a specific hospital after getting proper first aid in the initial hospital of admission. In such a collaborating system, Saint Leo will only focus on offering specific services to victims (Stanley & Bennecoff, 2015). The strategy not only reduces the burden but also improves the quality of service that victims will receive in these institutions.

Organizational values, mission, and vision often define the kind of services that a firm offers to its clients. Excellence, community, respect, personal development, responsible stewardship, and integrity are some of the core values of this teaching and referral hospital. The management of this institution insists on excellence in every activity it undertakes. The team assigned the responsibility of responding to hurricane emergencies must remember to embrace excellence as a value that has to be cherished.

When handling victims of such a disaster, the staff should focus on offering them the best services possible despite the possible pressure that the hospital may have. Collaborating with other institutions can help this organization to enhance excellence. The communal approach of undertaking various tasks is another value that would be essential when responding to the disaster. Other than institutions of healthcare, other entities can also help in responding to disasters (Burns et al., 2012).

Corporate organizations and government entities can donate various materials needed, including food and bedding to help the hospital cope with the increased demand for their services. Members of the community can donate blood to help patients who need transfusion because of the nature of their injuries.

Respect is another important factor that would enhance success. Team members should show mutual respect for colleagues to create a harmonious workplace environment. Top managers should also show concern and respect to junior employees to motivate them in the workplace (Burgan, 2017).

Patients should be respected to improve the experience of service delivery. Personal development is necessary as a way of improving the skills of the medical staff that may be required to respond to medical emergencies. As a medical training institution, it is easier to improve the skills of health workers internally without having to send them to other institutions of higher learning. Responsible stewardship is a value that is deeply entrenched in the mission of the institution. All the medical and non-medical staff is required to be responsible stewards. Such an approach is critical when handling patients in cases of an emergency.

The integrity of the institution, as defined in its vision statement, depends on the quality of services this institution will offer to victims. When implementing the plan, the medical staff should remember that the integrity of the firm depends on their actions.

Health Policy and Regulation, Health Information Systems

When developing the hurricane disaster preparedness and response plan, the management of Saint Leo University Hospital will have to take into consideration the federal, state, and local government’s policies and regulations to ensure that its operations are not subject to any legal action. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, popularly known as Obamacare, is one of the federal policies that this institution will have to observe when offering its services to the victims of hurricane disasters (Burgan, 2017). This hospital relies on the profits it makes from its activities to sustain its operations.

In cases of emergency, it is not possible to determine the kind of insurance policies that some of the victims have to cover for their medication. It means that it may not be possible for the management to know whether some of these patients can pay for their medical bills.

However, Obamacare offers a guideline on how individuals without proper medical coverage can still get medical attention without exposing healthcare providers to massive losses (Cinnamon, Jonesb, & Adger, 2016). It offers an assurance to the institution, which makes it possible for the hospital to spend its resources during such emergencies knowing that it will get some form of compensation.

Florida medical record laws regulate how patients’ medical records should be stored and shared with relevant parties. In cases of medical emergencies, it may not be possible to follow a standard procedure of taking the records of patients admitted to the institution. Given that the identity of some or most of these patients may not be clear, it may not be possible to collect their bio-data at the point of admission (AMEC Earth & Environmental UK Ltd., 2014).

The primary aim at this stage is always to stabilize their condition before they can be taken for further specialized treatment. Burgan (2017) warns that even in cases of medical emergencies, healthcare institutions should ensure that they operate under the guidance provided in medical records laws.

If Saint Leo collaborates with other regional healthcare institutions, it will have to provide patients’ data, explaining their condition, medication already offered, and further treatments or examinations that should be conducted. The problem is that once Saint Leo hands over patients’ data to another institution, it may not be easy to determine how the recipient would manage it. To avoid legal actions, it may be necessary for the team to sign agreements with these partners explaining how the responsibility of data management would be transferred once a patient is moved from one hospital to another.

Other laws and regulations defining the quality of service that patients should be offered, the relationship between a patient and the institution of healthcare, and the responsibility of the institution to the government should also be observed, if possible. Burns et al. (2012) warn that a medical facility should not break these laws and regulations when responding to emergencies unless it seeks and gets permission from relevant authorities to ignore some policies for the sake of saving people’s lives.

Healthcare information systems are designed to manage healthcare data (Burgan, 2017). They help in collecting, storing, managing, and transmitting a patient’s electronic medical record within a given healthcare facility (Sellwood & Wapling, 2016). Saint Leo University Hospital has an elaborate healthcare information system that it uses to facilitate the management of patients’ medical records. When developing the hurricane disaster preparedness and response plan, the responsible team should define how victims’ medical records would be taken and managed.

They must understand that a significant portion of these patients would only stay within the facility for a short period before they can be transferred to other institutions for further treatment. Some of them may have serious injuries that limit their capacity to provide basic details about themselves, which are often needed when developing their profile.

Despite the uniqueness of the situation when dealing with medical emergencies, it is still necessary to ensure that proper records of patients are taken and kept in an electronic format. It would make it easy to share such data with other institutions of healthcare where the patient might seek further treatment. Such records may also be necessary when the hospital needs to be compensated for the services delivered.

Elder (2019) advises that when handling electronic records, one of the biggest dangers is a cyber-attack. Criminals can access digital data and manipulate it in a way that would affect efficient service delivery. They can also share patients’ information with unauthorized individuals, which may lead to legal battles.

Personal Responsibility, Health Information Privacy, Ethics, and International Collaboration

Personal responsibility of individual team members, health information privacy, ethics, and international collaboration should inform the development, adoption, and execution of the disaster preparedness and response plan at Saint Leo University Hospital. Burgan (2017) explains that when developing a disaster response plan, people assigned specific roles should understand their responsibility. The medical staff selected to be members of different teams should know their role within the project. As a doctor or a nurse, there are specific assignments that one is expected to do in cases of emergency.

Any mistake that any of these staff members commit at a personal level as a medical officer may have legal ramifications. A nurse who abuses a patient verbally or physically may face the law even if he or she is working extra hours to address the emergency. Burns et al. (2012) advise that in cases where there is immense pressure in the workplace, medical officers are advised to remain tolerant to avoid confrontations. Some of the patients may become aggressive because of their medical condition. Nurses and doctors should understand the possible existence of such mental problems and find ways of managing these patients.

Ethics should not be compromised when executing the disaster preparedness and response plan when dealing with a hurricane. Burgan (2017) explains that doctors, nurses, and clinical officers are expected to respect regulations put in place by the management to guide how they offer their services. The relationship between a patient and the medical staff should be strictly defined by professionalism.

Employing the seven principles of ethics, which are justice, non-maleficence, accountability, beneficence, autonomy, veracity, and fidelity would be essential (OCHA Regional Office for the Pacific, 2013). These principles should guide the actions of both nurses and doctors who may be working under extreme pressure in cases of emergency. The primary goal of the team executing the plan is to ensure that the medical condition of as many victims as possible is stabilized.

Health information privacy is another aspect of the responsibility that the medical staff has before their patients. The physician-patient privilege as a legal concept also needs to apply when handling patients who are affected by hurricane disasters. If a patient is brought to this facility, the doctor should remind the patient of this privilege so that they can share important facts about their condition that would help in administering medication. Cinnamon et al. (2016) explain that many patients often prefer hiding important facts such as addiction to prescription drugs for fear of facing various consequences or subjecting those who provide them with drugs to legal actions.

When one is abusing a specific drug, the doctor should know about it so that he or she can find an appropriate medical path that should be taken to help the patient. Other patients may also fear sharing their medical conditions such as those who are HIV-positive. When they are convinced to provide such information to help define appropriate medication, the responsible doctor should ensure that the concept of confidentiality is upheld. Nurses or any other medical staff who may come across such sensitive data should remember that they have an ethical responsibility for protecting their clients’ privacy. The information should not be shared with any other individual who is not directly involved in the management of the patient’s condition.

In the above modules, the essence of collaboration among healthcare institutions within Florida was discussed. However, Elder (2019), explains that in some cases, it may be necessary to have international collaboration as a way of sharing skills and helping others who need treatment in cases of emergency. Canada, Argentina, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Bangladesh, and India are some of the countries often affected by hurricanes because of their geographic locations. Developed countries such as the United Kingdom and Canada have elaborate systems that they use to deal with emergencies arising from such disasters.

If a team of healthcare officers from Saint Leo University Hospital is sent to these countries to participate in disaster response and management, they will gain new skills that can enhance the current plan that the institution has in place. When these medical officers are sent to developing countries such as India and South Africa, they will get the opportunity to implement the current plan, especially when the country has no clear strategy for managing this kind of disaster. While saving lives in these countries, the team will learn about the strengths and weaknesses of the current plan and what can be done to improve it.

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