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Disasters, crisis, and emergency management within health services

Guest Editors:
Dylan Collins: University of British Columbia, Canada
Shahid Islam: University of New England, Australia


BMC Health Services Research called for submissions to a Collection on Disasters, crisis, and emergency management within health services.

The mass casualties, injuries, and population health deterioration associated to disasters, crisis, and emergencies eventually overload the affected health systems and prevent them from performing their intended roles in health care.

BMC Health Services Research launched this Collection to review the current state of research on health services management of disasters, crisis, and emergency.

Meet the Guest Editors

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Dylan Collins: University of British Columbia, Canada

Dr Collins is a Canadian physician and health systems scientist. His research focuses on building and optimizing emergency health care systems and he has worked extensively in health systems development throughout Europe, North America, and Asia.  A resident emergency physician at the University of British Columbia, he has special interests in disaster systems and response, legal epidemiology, and evidence-based emergency care.
 

Shahid Islam: University of New England, Australia

Dr Islam is a senior lecturer in the School of Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of New England (UNE), Australia. Dr Islam is an experienced academic in health management and public health and worked across Asia, Europe and Australia as academic and researcher for over 20 years. His academic professional training and research project work has been in the areas of health management, public health, digital health, mental health, COVID-19, and HIV/AIDS.

About the collection

BMC Health Services Research is calling for submissions to a Collection on Disasters, crisis, and emergency management within health services.

According to the WHO, 1.6 Billion people – nearly a quarter of the global population are currently living in ‘settings of conflict, displacement and natural disasters’. These figures, along with the rising complexity of the nature of these crises, are unprecedented.

The mass casualties, injuries, and population health deterioration associated to disasters, crises, and emergencies eventually overload the affected health systems and prevent them from performing their intended roles in health care.

A broad range of hazards (natural or technological disasters, conflicts, disease outbreaks, food contamination etc.) bring health systems to the forefront and expose their central role in managing health risks and responding effectively to such events to minimize their impact.

Strengthening health systems, especially the most vulnerable ones, has become a vital step in facing the global and growing dimensions of emergencies and continuing progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals.

BMC Health Services Research launched this Collection to review the current state of research on health services management of disasters, crisis, and emergency and in particular, studies that:

  • Delineate/Introduce policies, frameworks, processes, and innovative interventions aiming at strengthening health services enabling them to effectively prevent, prepare to, manage, and respond to disasters, crises and emergencies.
  • Present applied models of mitigation, response, and recovery from emergencies and crises.
  • Summarize experiences of resiliency for health systems in the context of disasters, crisis, and emergencies.
  • Propose established models of health system governance in crisis settings.
  • Advance health systems and health services preparedness to disasters, crises, and emergencies, with particular interest in the development of emergency medicine and emergency care systems with particular interest in the development of emergency medicine and emergency care systems.
  • Examine the role or attitude of healthcare professionals and managers in such crisis settings.
  • Propose or describe methods to integrate research, including implementation and operational research, in disaster response and settings and/or the role of learning health systems in disaster scenarios. 


Image credit: © Stefano Zannini / MSF / dpa / picture alliance

  1. The COVID-19 pandemic presented a myriad of challenges for the health workforce around the world due to its escalating demand on service delivery. A motivated health workforce is critical to effectual emergenc...

    Authors: Suzanne N. Kiwanuka, Ziyada Babirye, Steven N. Kabwama, Andrew K. Tusubira, Susan Kizito, Rawlance Ndejjo, Marc Bosonkie, Landry Egbende, Berthold Bondo, Mala Ali Mapatano, Ibrahima Seck, Oumar Bassoum, Mamadou MM Leye, Issakha Diallo, Olufunmilayo I. Fawole, Segun Bello…
    Citation: BMC Health Services Research 2024 24:422
    Content type: Research Published on:

  3. The COVID-19 pandemic led to new and unfamiliar changes in healthcare services globally. Most COVID-19 patients were cared for in primary healthcare services, demanding major adjustments and adaptations in car...

    Authors: Malin Knutsen Glette, David W. Bates, Patricia C. Dykes, Siri Wiig and Tone Kringeland
    Citation: BMC Health Services Research 2023 23:1177
    Content type: Research Published on:

  4. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a surge in the use of telemedicine as a means of delivering healthcare services remotely. Healthcare providers play a key role in the adoption and implementation of telemedicin...

    Authors: Bayou Tilahun Assaye, Muluken Belachew, Aynadis Worku, Sefefe Birhanu, Ayenew Sisay, Mitiku Kassaw and Habtamu Mekonen
    Citation: BMC Health Services Research 2023 23:967
    Content type: Research Published on:

Submission Guidelines

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This Collection welcomes submission of original Research Articles. Should you wish to submit a different article type, please read our submission guidelines to confirm that type is accepted by the journal. Articles for this Collection should be submitted via our submission system, Snapp. During the submission process you will be asked whether you are submitting to a Collection, please select "Disasters, crisis, and emergency management in health services" from the dropdown menu.

Articles will undergo the journal’s standard peer-review process and are subject to all of the journal’s standard policies. Articles will be added to the Collection as they are published.

The Guest Editors have no competing interests with the submissions which they handle through the peer review process. The peer review of any submissions for which the Guest Editors have competing interests is handled by another Editorial Board Member who has no competing interests.