Emergency management

Emergency Management
www.moh.govt.nz/emergencymanagement

Emergencies can happen anywhere and at any time. They can be caused by severe weather, infectious diseases, industrial accidents, or by intentional acts.

The very nature of an emergency is that it is unpredictable. It can vary in scope and impact. An emergency can threaten public safety, the environment, the economy, critical infrastructure or the health of the public.

A national emergency often affects access to health care services and the health care system’s ability to respond to the public’s health needs. Emergency preparedness is progressive, continuously building increased resilience among the public and relevant agencies. This ongoing process involves careful planning, designing of response actions, testing and evaluation of processes and continual updating.

For the health sector, careful planning in particular is critical to safe-guarding the public health care system. Education and training of the health workforce, who will activate the health emergency plan should it be required, are also essential.

In 2002 the New Zealand Government repealed the Civil Defence Act 1983, replacing it with the Civil Defence and Emergency Management Act 2002. This Act outlines the roles and responsibilities of key government agencies, including the Ministry of Health, in an emergency.

In 2004, in response to the threat of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus, the Ministry of Health produced the original National Health Emergency Plan: Infectious Diseases. Since then the role of the health and disability sector in the event of an emergency, as both a lead and a supporting agency, has been more clearly defined.

Since 2004 the Ministry’s focus in this area has included publication of a series of emergency management-related documents to provide guidance in a health-related emergency. These mostly strategic documents are underpinned with specific action plans.

The National Health Emergency Plan (2008) provides the strategic framework for these documents.

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Page last updated: 2 October 2009