Developing the State of Connecticut emergency credentialing programme for healthcare professionals

The failure of the emergency response system, healthcare delivery organisations and multiple levels of government to work together to provide adequate medical response during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita demonstrates the need to develop a coordinated and national approach to recruiting, pre-qualifying and credentialing healthcare professionals who are willing to volunteer during a large-scale disaster or public health emergency. Inadequately prepared to continue normal operations in the face of the enormity of the Gulf Coast disaster, which destroyed or disabled hospitals and other vital infrastructure, in addition to generating large numbers of patients, individual healthcare organisations in the Gulf Coast region had no hope of expanding their personnel surge capability and operational capacity. Public health and infectious disease clinical experts continue to express concern over predictions that the next influenza pandemic could affect 15–40 per cent of the US population through hospitalisations and outpatient visits. Hospital emergency management plans should therefore include a strategy for the integration of volunteer healthcare personnel who are prepared to assist with meeting the challenges of a sudden surge in patient volume.