University of Washington researchers from the Center for Disaster Resilient Communities have developed a new digital tool to standardize emergency preparedness assessments for Washington’s 35 local health jurisdictions. The Health and Hazards Risk Decision Support Tool (H2azaRDS) aims to assist counties in assessing their readiness for natural disasters such as earthquakes, wildfires and tsunamis.
Led by Nicole Errett, an associate professor in the University of Washington’s Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences, the team created the tool at the request of Washington state’s Department of Health.
Errett explained in a recent interview that local health departments often, “… don’t explicitly integrate considerations that we know impact public health outcomes in the aftermath of a disaster.”
The online platform guides users through a series of questions about local conditions and risk factors, then analyzes this data to generate standardized emergency readiness reports. The tool is currently being transferred to the Washington Department of Health’s system to be tested prior to statewide implementation.