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The purpose of this paper is to study the managing of emergencies pertinent to public health which is critical to the well‐being of a society; as such, the management mechanisms employed should be of great interest and significance for research.

This paper first relies on extensive literature to describe the mechanism used in the USA from three aspects – organizational structure, management system, and logistics network. For the purpose of comparison, the Chinese version of the mechanism is presented from the same three aspects. The two management systems are then compared both qualitatively and quantitatively.

Deficient areas in Chinese public‐health management mechanism as well as challenging issues associated with supply chain design and coordination for emergency supplies in the context of large‐scale public health emergencies with low frequency but catastrophic impacts are found. Specifically, the following three important research problems are revealed from the comparative study: how to establish an efficient organizational structure that incorporates all the relevant entities in public‐health emergency management? How to establish an information system for emergency management that integrates disease surveillance, control, and prevention? How to design an efficient and cost‐effective logistics network to ensure prompt and sufficient delivery of emergency supplies?

To date, this research has been the first of its kind that compares two countries' emergency management systems in the context of public health management.

The purpose of this study is to discuss the principles and factors that influence the site selection of emergency medical facilities for public health emergencies. This paper discusses the selection of the best facilities from the available facilities, proposes the capacity of new facilities, presents a logistic regression model and establishes a site selection model for emergency medical facilities for public health emergencies in megacities.

Using Guangzhou City as the research object, seven alternative facility points and the points' capacities were preset. Nine demand points were determined, and two facility locations were selected using genetic algorithms (GAs) in MATLAB for programing simulation and operational analysis.

Comparing the results of the improved GA, the results show that the improved model has fewer evolutionary generations and a faster operation speed, and that the model outperforms the traditional P-center model. The GA provides a theoretical foundation for determining the construction location of emergency medical facilities in megacities in the event of a public health emergency.

First, in this case study, there is no scientific assessment of the establishment of the capacity of the facility point, but that is a subjective method based on the assumption of the capacity of the surrounding existing hospitals. Second, because this is a theoretical analysis, the model developed in this study does not consider the actual driving speed and driving distance, but the speed of the unified average driving distance and the driving distance to take the average of multiple distances.

The results show that the method increases the selection space of decision-makers, provides them with stable technical support, helps them quickly determine the location of emergency medical facilities to respond to disaster relief work and provides better action plans for decision makers.

The results show that the algorithm performs well, which verifies the applicability of this model. When the solution results of the improved GA are compared, the results show that the improved model has fewer evolutionary generations, faster operation speed and better model than the intermediate model GA. This model can more successfully find the optimal location decision scheme, making that more suitable for the location problem of megacities in the case of public health emergencies.

The research findings provide a theoretical and decision-making basis for the location of government emergency medical facilities, as well as guidance for enterprises constructing emergency medical facilities.

The intensifying effects of climate change and the growing concentration of population in hazardous locations mean that, for many communities, disasters are increasingly becoming not only foreseeable, but inevitable. While much attention is, and should be, focused on what these foreseeable disasters require in terms of disaster planning and mitigation, attention should also be focused on a related and equally pressing phenomena: mismanagement of disaster response, particularly as climate proves an increasing stressor. Like disasters themselves, disaster mismanagement – while not entirely predictable – may exhibit some predictable patterns. This chapter explores past disaster management failures, considers how climate change may alter or exacerbate certain response pathologies, and evaluates some potential remedies that might mitigate these challenges.

Several emergency public health issues have a tremendous impact on and rely upon close coordination with law enforcement officials. Most interactions involve law enforcement personnel providing security, crowd control, and/or traffic control during public health related incidents. However, as varied chemical and biological threats have emerged over the years, this interaction has increased to include joint investigations between the two disciplines. Certain biological threats, such as pandemics, pose direct threats to the law enforcement agency operations. Understanding the role of public health in emergencies, the overlapping missions, and the threats at all levels allows law enforcement professionals to better prepare themselves and their organizations for coordinating operations and maintaining continuity of law enforcement services.

Bill Freudenburg’s concept of recreancy is used as a frame for explaining processes that perpetuate questionable regimes of emergency response planning. The specific instance of tar sands upgrading in Alberta, Canada, is used as a case in point. When recreancy is institutionalized so that the results correlate across permitted hazardous facilities, it must be concluded that recreancy is less of a situational response than a normative dynamic.

The study aimed to (1) determine on what bases paramedics in this context have defined themselves as feeling safe or at risk while serving on the front lines and (2) develop recommendations to support paramedics in their critical public health emergency response role.

This qualitative study consisted of 21 semi-structured interviews with primary care paramedics (PCPs), advanced care paramedics (ACPs) and critical care paramedics (CCPs) with first-hand experience responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario. Qualitative research is best suited to the research objectives of gaining detailed and nuanced understandings of paramedics' experiences during this public health emergency, and identifying in paramedics' accounts what changes to policy and practice might strengthen their sense of safety in future infectious disease outbreaks (Bowling, 2002; Chafe, 2017). Data collection occurred over the course of 3.5 months, from June 2020 until September 2020.

Participants described several factors that heightened their feeling exposed to risk particular to working on the front lines of the COVID-19 public health response. These factors include stress connected to personal protective equipment (PPE) and equipment access, risks of infection to self and family, communications and feelings of being systematically under-considered. Recommendations from this research include, but are not limited to, ensuring a more equitable distribution of protective equipment to paramedics across unevenly funded services, and recognizing paramedics face unique and additional stressors in public health emergencies.

A key limitation of this study was the relatively small sample, with 50% of potential participants deciding not to engage in an interview. The authors suspect this is likely a result of timing, as this was conducting during significant periods of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario. The study identifies and begins to shed light on the way in which feelings of compromised safety and specific stressors in a public health emergency context connect to one another and potentially increase risks of burnout for this healthcare provider group. This study's documentation of paramedics feeling uncertainty about their own and their family's safety, combined with feeling occupational pressure, decisional pressure within constrained frameworks of care delivery, a lack of autonomy and a lack of consideration within their healthcare system in general and within its pandemic response in particular, is important in and of itself. These stressors can have serious implications for the ability of paramedics to sustain their integral role in public health emergency response.

A series of pandemic-specific and generalizable recommendations emerged from this research and in collaboration with community-based medical leadership. (1) Consult paramedics on effectiveness of screening questions and equipment. Be sure to illicit and respond to paramedic feedback in a timely manner. (2) Implement operational changes during pandemics in the form of donning and doffing stations, disposable gowns, decontamination teams at hospitals, infectious disease paramedic (IDP) truck, anti-fog sprays for goggles, and safe and controlled areas for eating and taking breaks. (3) Develop an emergency pandemic plan that is resourced and maintained as part of EMS strategic planning. Involve EMS in decisions related to health system emergency planning and sustainability of EMS practice. (4) Establish equitable distribution of resources, such as ensuring PPE is distributed equitably and applying pandemic pay equally to all essential workers. (5) Validate and respect EMS, as they are essential workers. Recognize the expertise of paramedics and community healthcare providers. Finally, an overarching recommendation at the core of this research is the consideration for paramedic knowledge as expertise given their role as critical front line healthcare specialists and the protection of this crucial human resource as it relates to their resilience and mental wellbeing.

Evidence-based awareness and improved understanding of paramedic stress during the pandemic is a first step to developing strategies to reduce that stress. This is essential in ensuring access to this essential service during emergencies and the safety of the communities they serve.

Findings from this study can inform development of supports to sustain paramedic wellbeing during public health emergencies, during the ongoing pandemic, in Ontario and beyond.

The purpose of this paper is to first, determine the implications of management control system (MCS) information characteristics for controlling the COVID-19 pandemic through four performance indicators (quality, speed of delivery, availability and cost-effectiveness) of the public health supply chain and second, the mediating effect of four dimensions (broad scope, timeliness, integration and aggregation) of the MCS on external integration, internal integration, customer integration and operational performance of public health institutions in Ghana.

Using covariance-based structural equations modelling and based on contingency theory, a hypothesized model was developed and tested. The sample involves a survey of 214 public health institutions in Ghana.

Both external and internal integration were found to have a significant positive effect on MCS information and, in turn, on the supply chain operational performance of public health institutions. Also, customer integration has a significant positive impact on the four dimensions with a corresponding impact on supply chain operational performance.

The paper provides practitioners and policymakers with the usefulness of the contingency paradigm in enhancing the supply chain network of public health institutions during epidemics, hence, the need to adopt and develop the contingency approach in designing MCS within the public health sector. Effective public health management through a collaborative process between stakeholders (suppliers, customers and personnel) will mitigate stockouts of medical supplies and systematic disruptions in the public health supply chain.

The MCSs – supply chain integration interaction on organizational performance is one of the areas that has received very little attention in the literature particularly in service-oriented organizations. In this regard, this paper represents one of the few studies in Africa that examines performance implications of MCS – supply chain nexus with respect to public health emergencies service-orientec organizations. The paper contributes to the literature by providing invaluable insights into the usefulness of the MCS in enhancing the supply chain performance of public health emergencies.

Frequent fire incidences in various hospitals across the globe with devastating effects on humans and other resources have multiplied. Stakeholders in the health-care sector are worried because of the yearly fire outbreak increase. However, fire safety management has been proved as a successful platform to mitigate fire in health-care facilities. How far regarding public health-care facilities is yet to receive in-depth studies in Malaysia. This paper aims to investigate the issues associated with fire safety management and proffers possible solutions to improve safety in public health-care facilities from the operators’ perception.

The objectives were achieved through a combination of case studies of five selected Malaysia’s public hospitals and a qualitative approach. Thematic analysis with the assistance of MAXQDA (software program designed for computer-assisted qualitative and mixed methods data) 2018, a type of qualitative data analysis software was used to analyse the collated data which emerged from the knowledgeable participants.

Lax implementation of safety policy, inadequate water pressure, poor maintenance, inadequate communication system, amongst others, emerged as the issues. Findings proffer five main measures to possibly improve fire safety management in public health-care buildings. This includes a feasible institutional framework, improve the emergency response team, improve the occupational health and safety system and others.

This paper is limited to exploring the issues associated with fire safety management and proffer possible solutions to improve safety in public health-care facilities from the operators’ perception. Future research is needed to engage useful information in advancing fire safety management in public hospital buildings and possibly developing a qualitative model using a generic fire response model. Also, to investigate the level of compliance with the requirements of a fire safety management plan and possibly develop a well-detailed fire safety plan in Malaysia’s public health-care buildings.

As part of the paper implications, the paper concludes that improved fire protection systems via modern technologies and training of key staff members in accident response and recovery during fire emergencies should be encouraged. This can be achieved through the enforcement and implementation of a fire safety management plan. Thus, this study is encouraging the implementation and sustainability of a fire safety management plan for health-care buildings across Malaysia.

To the best of this paper’s knowledge, this is possibly the first comprehensive paper on fire safety management in public health-care facilities that engaged operators in Malaysia. Moreover, this paper proffers feasible policy solutions to improve the fire safety management plan in public health-care buildings.

Index by subjects, compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals: Facilities Volumes 8‐17; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐17; Property Management Volumes 8‐17; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐17.