Promising Practices: A case study on public health emergency preparedness at a university

AN ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION OF Amy L. Mathes, for Doctor of Philosophy degree in HEALTH EDUCATION, presented on May 8, 2013, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. TITLE: PROMISING PRACTICES: A CASE STUDY ON PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. Kathleen Welshimer There is little published literature on operational coordination during a real time disaster regardless of the setting. This study describes a university's emergency management plan and its execution in response to a specific natural disaster, the May 8, 2009 "inland hurricane," which was later classified as a "Super Derecho." The case study design allowed for an in-depth exploration into the intricacy and complexity of an emergency response by interviewing individuals present in the CEOC and others from State Police, local EMA agencies, local health departments, and IEMA, document analysis of the Campus All-Hazards Emergency Preparedness and Violence Prevention Plan (CAHEPVPP), Situation Reports, Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and National Incident Management Agency (NIMS) documents. This study will assist public health emergency preparedness officials in higher education to educate students and development of proactive development of planning and response during a real disaster. This study will also provide contributions to universities regarding mitigation, planning, response, and recovery activities. It shows the value of proactive, forward-thinking leadership from day-to-day preparedness activities to response and recovery efforts.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy

Level thesis:degree_level

Campus Only Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Health Education

Year

2013

Author dc:creator

• Mathes, Amy L.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Welshimer, Kathleen

• disaster preparedness
• emergency management
• emergency preparedness
• operational coordination
• public health
• public health emergency preparedness

Repository record dc:identifier

https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/dissertations/730

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:opensiuc.lib.siu.edu:dissertations-1733