MCH Emergency Planning and Preparedness

The COVID-19 pandemic has been another reminder of the importance of communication skills in connecting with the public during a public health emergency and the essential role of effective communication in the successful implementation of control measures.  There was a collective work by several FSM entities which resulted in the Strategic Plan on Emergency Medical Services for Children.  The plan was developed to guide the development of the programs that work with the FSM children within four years period up to 2022. 

The National Disaster Response Plan was established in 2016 for the FSM which is called “Federated States of Micronesia National Disaster Response Plan 2016”.  This plan provides for the establishment of national institutional arrangements for the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) government for responding to emergency and disaster events within the country. It includes arrangements for preparedness, monitoring for potential events and response at the national level to manage national level events and support state level events. It also outlines arrangements to guide state disaster response plans and their connection to the national level arrangements. It includes provisions for accessing international support. However, the FSM Disaster Response Plan does not incorporate inclusive and response requirements specific to Women and Children (pregnant, postpartum, and/or lactating and infants and young children).

Additionally, the FSM has yet to put in safeguards and periodic implementation programs to slowly address health issues resulting from Climate variability and change. Based on the National Climate Change and Health Action Plan (NCCHAP) the FSM started experiencing health vector-borne diseases, water-borne diseases and malnutrition, followed by zoonotic infections, mental health problems, non-communicable diseases and respiratory diseases. FSM needs to prioritize adaptation measures in order to minimize and avoid climate change-attributable health risks.  In doing so, it is hoped that the health system in the Federated States of Micronesia may be strengthened and the level of cross-sectoral cooperation improved, as climate change is truly an issue that ignores traditional boundaries of roles and responsibilities.   

FSM has been the recipient of two cooperative agreements: Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) and Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP). The main functions of these cooperative agreements are preparedness and response planning.

When Zika virus was reported in the state of Kosrae, one of four states within the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), the territory responded with a PHEP-funded mosquito control and elimination campaign. Campaign activities included an island-wide mosquito survey, communication efforts such as travel advisory brochures, radio programs, and posters, and mosquito spraying at the homes of all reported cases.  This is also the same situation for Covid-19 emergency and preparedness campaigns in all the four FSM States.

Since the healthcare system in the FSM can only provide limited emergency care and services for adults including the mothers; however, much work still needs to be done to be able to have the policies, infrastructure, and staff to provide for the emergency medical needs of children.  The focus of the analysis on the plan was to improve the health outcomes of children who require emergency medical care in the FSM.  The mission for FSM children is- to save children’s lives, reduce suffering, and limit disability by providing quality pediatric emergency medical services in the FSM.  The strategic priorities are Program management, Human resources, Financial support and Program capacity. 

Program management goal is to establish emergency management system for pre-hospital services in all FSM States.  For Human resources, all pediatric emergency medical care services personnel will meet FSM established licensing and certification requirements.  Emergency and pediatric medical emergency care services will be incorporated into FSM’s annual budget in all FSM states as well as the national level. Last but not least, basic pediatric medical emergency care services, equipment and supplies will be available in all government healthcare facilities for hospital and pre-hospital responses.  Finally, there is a need to address the identified training gaps in leadership, communication and social skills, as well as emergency response.