Preparedness of Chandigarh Against a Deliberate or Accidental Release of a Biological Agent and Responsible Consequence Management

Abstract

Disasters are the constant companions of mankind. Mostly, any talk of disasters centres only around natural disasters with anthropogenically caused disasters not being given adequate credence. Utilising an exploratory approach this study examines the preparedness of Chandigarh to combat incidents of Biological Disasters by evaluating the individual percentage preparedness quotient of government and private health facilities, while the technique of Principal Component Analysis was employed to examine the readiness of the essential services as also the public awareness about biological disasters amongst the community. newlineThe findings for the health facilities have been discussed, based on the World Health Organisation s: Hospital preparedness checklist, which specifies nine major heads viz. Command and Control; Communication; Safety and Security; Triage; Surge Capacity; Continuity of Essential Services; Human Resource Development; Logistics and Supply Management and Post Disaster Recovery. newline