Addressing Disaster Workforce Needs During the COVID-19 Pandemic

For the past 18 months, emergency response personnel have dealt with the strain of the COVID-19 pandemic in addition to the regular onslaught of tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires, and other hazards. With so many concurrent needs and crises, how can decision makers provide support to the disaster workforce? What strategies can be used to promote resilience and reduce worker burnout?

In this webinar, panelists from the public health and emergency services sectors will discuss approaches for addressing worker burnout, promoting individual-level resilience, and mitigating the impacts of worker shortages as the COVID-19 crisis continues to evolve.

Panelists

Phil Ambrose, Glendale Fire Department

Curry Mayer, Seattle Office of Emergency Management

David Miller, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

Sue Ann Sarpy, Principal, Sarpy and Associates, LLC

In response to the current outbreak of COVID-19, decision-makers at all levels of government have critical and complex questions that are answerable based on evidence from the social, behavioral, and economic sciences (SBE). To connect SBE research with decision-makers who need rapid answers, the National Academies, with support from the National Science Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, has established a network of leading individuals and institutions in SBE fields to provide actionable responses to urgent policy questions. The Societal Experts Action Network (SEAN) consists of experts available to develop evidence-based recommendations to support local, state, and national responses.

Please visit NASEM’s Addressing Disaster Workforce Needs During the COVID-19 Pandemic meeting page for more information.