Health
AMA continues efforts to improve medical response to disasters
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted July 10, 2006
The American Medical Association will produce a manual on state licensure and medical liability coverage for physicians providing care in the aftermath of a disaster. The AMA also will work with relief organizations to improve plans and protocols for supplying health care in mass evacuation shelters. To address needs of physicians who also might be victimized by these events, the Association will develop planning tools to make it easier for doctors to recover records and resume their practices, according to policy adopted at the AMA Annual Meeting in Chicago last month.
These actions are being taken to enhance the ability of physicians to cope with catastrophes such as Hurricane Katrina that devastated the Gulf Coast in August 2005.
"Hurricane Katrina was a painful lesson in the importance of disaster preparedness and response," said AMA Trustee J. James Rohack, MD. "The new AMA policy will take the necessary steps to secure a solid disaster response plan and prepare Americans for the unexpected."
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2006/07/10/hlbf0710.htm.
