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Key Planning Questions
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What facilities will be used?
- How will you "contract" with them?
- How will the facilities be staffed?
- In what way will individuals be transported to the facility?
- How will primary needs (medical, food, spiritual) of the individual will be met?
- How will individuals be discharged from the facility?
Isolation & Quarantine
Facility Operations
This section of the Toolkit provides a structured action step approach to incorporate I & Q Facilities into the planning process. The Tools & Samples section offers a significant amount of background research that can save your jurisdiction time as you plan.
WHEN SOMEONE'S HOME OR A HEALTH CARE SITE IS NOT AN OPTION
Ideally, people who are ill and/or have potentially been exposed but do not require hospitalization should be isolated or quarantined in their homes. A home environment is less disruptive to a patient's routine than isolation in a hospital or community-based setting, and reduces demand on limited Public Health resources during an event.
In some instances, people requiring isolation cannot be accommodated either at home or in a health care facility because they do not have a home or a safe home to return to, are travelers, or reside in group living settings such as nursing homes, mental institutions, drug treatment centers, homeless shelters or college dorms. In these cases, it is essential for Public Health to have a community-based facility available for isolation and quarantine during a moderate to large-scale outbreak.
Conducting a Facility Search is a calculated effort that can be time and resource intensive. Develop a plan on how you will approach this task and remember to think outside of the box when generating ideas for a community-based I & Q facility.
REMEMBERING PUBLIC HEALTH'S CORE RESPONSE CAPACITIES
Along with police, fire and emergency medical responders, Public Health professionals are on the front lines of response during the first 24 hours of an emergency or disaster. The role of Public Health in an emergency is an extension of its general mission of promoting health and preventing disease to include core competencies of emergency response.
Public Health agencies are vested with the legal authority to isolate or quarantine people for the good of Public Health. This stretches Public Health's responsibility beyond its core competencies and resources, requiring Public Health to depend on community partners to do what they do best in coordinating the emergency response and comprehensively caring for those who are confined.
Facility Operations
This section of the Toolkit provides a structured action step approach to incorporate I & Q Facilities into the planning process. The Tools & Samples section offers a significant amount of background research that can save your jurisdiction time as you plan.
WHEN SOMEONE'S HOME OR A HEALTH CARE SITE IS NOT AN OPTION
Ideally, people who are ill and/or have potentially been exposed but do not require hospitalization should be isolated or quarantined in their homes. A home environment is less disruptive to a patient's routine than isolation in a hospital or community-based setting, and reduces demand on limited Public Health resources during an event.
In some instances, people requiring isolation cannot be accommodated either at home or in a health care facility because they do not have a home or a safe home to return to, are travelers, or reside in group living settings such as nursing homes, mental institutions, drug treatment centers, homeless shelters or college dorms. In these cases, it is essential for Public Health to have a community-based facility available for isolation and quarantine during a moderate to large-scale outbreak.
Conducting a Facility Search is a calculated effort that can be time and resource intensive. Develop a plan on how you will approach this task and remember to think outside of the box when generating ideas for a community-based I & Q facility.
REMEMBERING PUBLIC HEALTH'S CORE RESPONSE CAPACITIES
Along with police, fire and emergency medical responders, Public Health professionals are on the front lines of response during the first 24 hours of an emergency or disaster. The role of Public Health in an emergency is an extension of its general mission of promoting health and preventing disease to include core competencies of emergency response.
Public Health agencies are vested with the legal authority to isolate or quarantine people for the good of Public Health. This stretches Public Health's responsibility beyond its core competencies and resources, requiring Public Health to depend on community partners to do what they do best in coordinating the emergency response and comprehensively caring for those who are confined.
