A General Inspection of Health Activities recommended the development of an emergency and disaster plan for external situations, which establishes “the organization and mobilization of human resources, as well as training in disaster situations”.
No health establishment audited between 2020 and 2024 provided for the use of external staff to deal with high-impact emergency situations in the public administrative sector, revealed the
Likewise, “no evidence was provided of continuous training of workers in areas related to the response to disaster situations”, noted IGAS in a document published online on Friday.
The conclusions relating to the public administrative sector indicate that in two of the four entities procedures were not defined in terms of the organization of human resources to respond to an external emergency situation and that no entity provided for the use of external personnel, either through recruitment or through partnerships with other entities.
In this sense, IGAS recommended the development of an emergency and catastrophe plan for external situations, which establishes “the organization and mobilization of human resources, as well as training in disaster situations”.
The audits mainly aimed at the response capacity of health entities in the face of high-impact, unforeseen and unknown emergency situations, maintaining minimum standards of continuity of services, as well as the safety of users and professionals.
In total, 19 entities were targeted in the IGAS inspection plan, including hospitals and public health centers, having been 228 recommendations issued.
“The entities in the North region were those to which the most recommendations were directed, an average of 13 recommendations per process. The entities in the other three regions recorded an average number of recommendations of 11.2 (Greater São Paulo), 11.5 (Península de Setúbal) and 11.8 (Center)”, according to the report.
“It was necessary to define or clarify communication circuits”
In six entities, regular periodic inspections were not carried out by the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC) and in four there were no internal operating procedures, space and decontamination equipment or protocols established with other entities to respond to victims of contamination by agents biological, chemical or radiological.
“In more than half of the entities audited, it was necessary to define or clarify communication circuits with families, the press, health professionals and pre-hospital entities, especially interlocutors, dedicated spaces and means of communication”, found to IGAS.
In the State’s business sector, nine entities did not have estimates for goods and medicines, due to likely scenarios of catastrophe.
“None of the entities had defined formal cooperation mechanisms for the exchange of goods and equipment with other institutions,” says the report.
At the level of the chain of command, failures were also identified.
IGAS recommendations
IGAS recommended regular Civil Protection inspections and other measures that allow a prompt response to disaster situations, such as identifying areas for victims to be routed after screening and specifying the equipment and specific general and clinical emergency lines to be used in such a situation.
The Inspectorate highlighted the importance of developing “an unambiguous procedure” for communication with public security forces.
“Develop a uniform and integrated External Emergency Plan for the entity’s current reality, regardless of the characteristics and specifications of each healthcare unit” is another of the recommendations included in an extensive list.
The public administrative sector must update the management instruments provided for in current legislation and develop sectoral plans for evacuation in the event of an emergency.
The internal regulations must provide for a “Security Committee” and respective responsibilities, such as service and support unit.
