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Hi folks,

I am trying to find a paper topic. It can be anything dealing with emergency preparedness, as long as it has a legal hook to it. For example, the requisite standard of care for hospitals during an earthquake would be a possible topic (it's already been written about though!)

Any ideas??!! Thanks so much!

Thanks that's a great idea!! If anything else related to that comes to mind, please don't hesitate to let me know!

The inadequacy of current state and federal licensing/legal regimes with regards to out-of-state medical providers in disaster zones.

Renzo wrote:The inadequacy of current state and federal licensing/legal regimes with regards to out-of-state medical providers in disaster zones.

Very interesting, but I'm embarrassed to say that I can't think of an example of this. Did you read about this in an article or something that I could find somewhere (not just an example of a disaster, but something addressing the nuance you mention).

It sounds very provocative. Thanks for your input!

I don't have an article for you right off, but I know this was an issue after the Joplin tornado this summer...out of state licensed medical personnel wanted to help and were needed, but couldn't practice because Missouri wouldn't recognize their credentials. On sort of a related topic, this is an issue for veterinarians wanting to assist with disaster animal sheltering as well.

habeogladium wrote:I don't have an article for you right off, but I know this was an issue after the Joplin tornado this summer...out of state licensed medical personnel wanted to help and were needed, but couldn't practice because Missouri wouldn't recognize their credentials. On sort of a related topic, this is an issue for veterinarians wanting to assist with disaster animal sheltering as well.

Yeah, this is a good example, but it happens quite frequently. There are Federal disaster medical teams, (DMATS), mortuary teams (DMORTS) and veterinary teams (DVATS), that have worked out solutions, but they aren't necessarily a sufficient answer because they don't allow for volunteers who are inspired by a crisis (you have to have a long-term relationship to an official team), they suck up federal funds, and they have to be federally deployed. The National Disaster Medical Sytem (a part of homeland security) administers these programs, and looking at what capacity they have and don't have might be a start.