A conceptual framework to measure systems' performance during emergency preparedness exercises.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Emergency Management
• Performance Measurement Science

Background:

• Large-scale public health emergencies necessitate coordinated responses, but their rarity limits real-world data collection.
• Simulated emergencies, or exercises, are used to test public health emergency capabilities.
• Historically, performance evaluation in these exercises has been inconsistent, with limited research on data-driven conclusions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address the inconsistency in evaluating public health emergency exercises.
• To develop a conceptual framework for applying performance measurement science to these exercises.
• To aid practitioners and researchers in improving exercise performance measurement and overall preparedness.

Main Methods:

• Designed and evaluated over seventy public health emergency exercises.
• Collaborated with public health agencies, hospitals, and other stakeholders.
• Gathered data and experience from diverse emergency simulation scenarios.

Main Results:

• Developed a conceptual framework for performance measurement in public health emergency exercises.
• The framework outlines essential elements for applying measurement science.
• Experience gained from seventy exercises informed the framework's development.

Conclusions:

• The proposed framework can enhance the measurement of performance in public health emergency exercises.
• Improved performance measurement can lead to better public health emergency preparedness.
• This work supports practitioners and researchers in refining simulation-based evaluations.