Evaluation Criteria of Preparedness for Emergency Events Within the Emergency Medical Services

Abstract

The increase in incidents with mass casualties leads to adoption of number of necessary preventive measures in society, which aim to increase the level of preparedness of the intervening teams. The current level of preparedness of the Integrated Rescue System intervening components becomes evident after the management and evaluation of an emergency event. Individual disproportions in the actions taken are subsequently eliminated, e.g. in the form of updating the emergency documentation. In view of the activities provided by the Emergency Medical Services, which have a direct effect on saving lives and the health of people, it is necessary to eliminate these disproportions to the largest extent possible before an emergency event occurs. It is very important to find mechanisms, procedures or, if need be, criteria that will enable the assessment of the preparedness level of the Emergency Medical Services before the occurrence of an emergency event. This paper is, therefore, focused on the emergency preparedness units that play an important role in the training of the Emergency Medical Services to deal with emergency events. The paper proposes evaluation criteria and indicators that can be used for assessing preparedness within the Emergency Medical Services.