Public Health Policy: A Terrorist Attack Against The United States Have Risen

Public Health Policy
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The threats of a terrorist attack against the United States have risen. This is a threat to the national security. What this means is that the health sector will not be left behind, it will be affected adversely. Measures of how to handle the situation concerning the health of the people should, therefore, be put into place with an immediate effect. This report is a proposal of ways through which the situation will be handled in the public sector.
According to the ten essentials of public health services, it is required that the hospital monitors to identify the health issues affecting the community. The hospital is also required to come up with policies and plans that are helpful in solving the health issues in the community. Education and empowerment of the community about their health should come from the health facilities. The hospital should also engage in the research of innovations or insights that can solve problems concerning the health of the community. During the emergency, it will require the hospital to work extra hard to meet the needs of the community. It will have to come up with ways as quick as possible to handle the situation.
It is a sure event that the surge capacity during the emergency will strain the hospital now that it is already operating at its peak. The medical staff especially the specialties to attend to some special emergencies will be strained. This is why the hospital has to alleviate this by employing the use of personnel of Emergency Medical Services (EMS). The issue of space can be handled by the hospital discharging patients who are not in critical condition and stopping elective admissions for some time. The hallways of the inpatient, Emergency Department and areas that are nonclinical can also be prepared to accommodate the large numbers. The hospital can also arrange with the other hospital at a distant to transfer the existing inpatients so as to create more room. It will also be crucial for the hospital to create awareness of the impending disaster to the community so that they can take precautions.
According to EMTALA, any casualty who finds their way to the emergency department must be treated or stabilized with no regard to their inability to pay or having insurance. EMTALA requires the hospitals to screen a patient who comes in the emergency department to find out the medical condition in order to determine the required treatment regardless of the patient's ability to pay for the services. The hospitals are also required to stabilize the condition of a patient to its level best of capabilities. In case the hospital cannot provide stabilization, it should arrange for proper transfer to another hospital and lastly in case transfer is done to the hospital, it should accept (Harris, 2016).
It is, therefore, importance to evaluate patients during an emergency to provide the necessary treatment since most patients in America lack insurance or others are underinsured. This is in spite of the coverage of expansions under Affordable Care Act, and it affects so many Americans. EMTALA works to avoid the cases in the hospitals that results to the dumping or rejecting the underinsured or uninsured patients. Through this, unn...