Learning Lessons during Recovery from Disasters
Introduction: The Fort McMurray Alberta wildfire was one of Canada’s largest natural disasters in history, burning 589,995 hectares of land until being controlled on July 5, 2016. In responding to the fire, Alberta Health Services (AHS) prompted a province-wide coordinated response. Through a combin...
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s1049023x19001031 2023-05-15T16:17:40+02:00 Learning Lessons during Recovery from Disasters Khan, Yasmin Tracey, Shannon Lacarte, Sara Therrien, Marie-Christine Sikora, Christopher 2019 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1049023x19001031 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S1049023X19001031 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Prehospital and Disaster Medicine volume 34, issue s1, page s43-s43 ISSN 1049-023X 1945-1938 Emergency Nursing Emergency Medicine journal-article 2019 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s1049023x19001031 2022-04-07T08:04:58Z Introduction: The Fort McMurray Alberta wildfire was one of Canada’s largest natural disasters in history, burning 589,995 hectares of land until being controlled on July 5, 2016. In responding to the fire, Alberta Health Services (AHS) prompted a province-wide coordinated response. Through a combination of pre-emptive strategies and responsive activities, the AHS response has been considered a success. Underlying the successful response is the collective experiences and contextual knowledge of AHS staff members acquired from past events. While the frequency and severity of risks associated with extreme weather and climate change are increasing worldwide, there is a persistent knowledge gap in the evidence-base informing public health emergency preparedness. It is imperative that lessons learned from past events inform future preparedness activities. Learning lessons is a systematic implementation process that can be used to inform future responses and best practices that are transferable to similar situations. Aim: To describe strategies employed and challenges encountered during recovery after the Alberta wildfires. Methods: A single-case study approach was employed to understand the AHS method to “learning lessons,” and the process involved in translating lessons into actionable goals. Semi-structured interviews with senior leaders (n=11) were conducted and internal documents were obtained. Results: The analysis revealed a strategic learning process, including debriefs, staff surveys, interviews, and member validity checking. The implementation process used to translate the lessons identified included a project management framework, evaluation techniques, and the utilization of tacit and explicit knowledge. Key challenges for implementation involve clarification of processes, leadership commitment, resource and time constraints, staff turn-over, and measuring outcomes. Discussion: Translating the lessons from the Alberta wildfires is crucial for enhancing preparedness, and exploratory research in this area can contribute to building a program of research in evaluation during disaster recovery. Article in Journal/Newspaper Fort McMurray Cambridge University Press (via Crossref) Fort McMurray Prehospital and Disaster Medicine 34 s1 s43 s43 |
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Cambridge University Press (via Crossref) |
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English |
topic |
Emergency Nursing Emergency Medicine |
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Emergency Nursing Emergency Medicine Khan, Yasmin Tracey, Shannon Lacarte, Sara Therrien, Marie-Christine Sikora, Christopher Learning Lessons during Recovery from Disasters |
topic_facet |
Emergency Nursing Emergency Medicine |
description |
Introduction: The Fort McMurray Alberta wildfire was one of Canada’s largest natural disasters in history, burning 589,995 hectares of land until being controlled on July 5, 2016. In responding to the fire, Alberta Health Services (AHS) prompted a province-wide coordinated response. Through a combination of pre-emptive strategies and responsive activities, the AHS response has been considered a success. Underlying the successful response is the collective experiences and contextual knowledge of AHS staff members acquired from past events. While the frequency and severity of risks associated with extreme weather and climate change are increasing worldwide, there is a persistent knowledge gap in the evidence-base informing public health emergency preparedness. It is imperative that lessons learned from past events inform future preparedness activities. Learning lessons is a systematic implementation process that can be used to inform future responses and best practices that are transferable to similar situations. Aim: To describe strategies employed and challenges encountered during recovery after the Alberta wildfires. Methods: A single-case study approach was employed to understand the AHS method to “learning lessons,” and the process involved in translating lessons into actionable goals. Semi-structured interviews with senior leaders (n=11) were conducted and internal documents were obtained. Results: The analysis revealed a strategic learning process, including debriefs, staff surveys, interviews, and member validity checking. The implementation process used to translate the lessons identified included a project management framework, evaluation techniques, and the utilization of tacit and explicit knowledge. Key challenges for implementation involve clarification of processes, leadership commitment, resource and time constraints, staff turn-over, and measuring outcomes. Discussion: Translating the lessons from the Alberta wildfires is crucial for enhancing preparedness, and exploratory research in this area can contribute to building a program of research in evaluation during disaster recovery. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Khan, Yasmin Tracey, Shannon Lacarte, Sara Therrien, Marie-Christine Sikora, Christopher |
author_facet |
Khan, Yasmin Tracey, Shannon Lacarte, Sara Therrien, Marie-Christine Sikora, Christopher |
author_sort |
Khan, Yasmin |
title |
Learning Lessons during Recovery from Disasters |
title_short |
Learning Lessons during Recovery from Disasters |
title_full |
Learning Lessons during Recovery from Disasters |
title_fullStr |
Learning Lessons during Recovery from Disasters |
title_full_unstemmed |
Learning Lessons during Recovery from Disasters |
title_sort |
learning lessons during recovery from disasters |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1049023x19001031 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S1049023X19001031 |
geographic |
Fort McMurray |
geographic_facet |
Fort McMurray |
genre |
Fort McMurray |
genre_facet |
Fort McMurray |
op_source |
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine volume 34, issue s1, page s43-s43 ISSN 1049-023X 1945-1938 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s1049023x19001031 |
container_title |
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine |
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34 |
container_issue |
s1 |
container_start_page |
s43 |
op_container_end_page |
s43 |
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1766003562677010432 |