3 Reasons Healthcare Coalitions Are Important During Community Emergencies

Posted on: 10 April 2019

A healthcare coalition is a combined group of providers in one geographic location that is capable of providing care in a joint-interest kind of fashion. These coalitions serve a multitude of purposes within a community normally, but when an emergency situation arises, this joint effort to keeping the public well can be super important.

There have been multiple examples of healthcare coalitions saving the day during major disasters and emergency situations throughout history. For example, during the Boston Marathon Bombings in 2013, the local Boston Healthcare Preparedness Coalition took initiative to make sure certain things were carried out. Take a look at some of the reasons healthcare coalitions play a critical role during community emergencies and disastrous situations. 

Healthcare coalitions can work to get people the care they need. 

A healthcare coalition can help to make sure that no matter what the care needs of the people who need are, they are capable of getting to a provider within the system who is capable of providing that care. For example, during the Boston Marathon Bombings in 2013, those 264 civilians who were injured were routed to 27 hospitals throughout the Boston area so they could get the level of care they needed right away. The healthcare coalition worked with community emergency response teams to ensure there were no issues with overcrowding at area hospitals and people were able to get care in an efficient manner. 

Healthcare coalitions will work to keep the public informed. 

During emergency situations within a community, the need for information is drastic. People need to know what is going on, what the threats to their health are, and where to find their family members. When there is a local healthcare coalition working together as one entity overseeing multiple care providers, all of these things are easier to achieve. The different care providers can reap information about the situation and the patients coming in and combine it so the messages delivered to the public are more informative and efficient. 

Healthcare coalitions assess the situation and alert the proper places for assistance. 

If the need for medical care becomes greater than what is available in the community during an emergency, a healthcare coalition will assess the situation and reach out to outside entities for help. For instance, if local hospitals become overcrowded, the coalition will make arrangements with hospitals outside of city limits so patients can be sent to those places for help.

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