Residual risk in public health and disaster management

Abstract

In the United States, there is a disconnect between critical stakeholders in the risk management and risk reduction fields – notably public health, emergency and disaster management, and vulnerability and resilience science. Nationally mandated hazard mitigation plans tend to focus on physical exposure, overlook socioeconomic analysis, and routinely omit public health considerations. At present, there is a lack of research on the intersection of vulnerability studies, risk assessments, and public health risk assessments and healthcare systems. Through the inclusion of stakeholder input and feedback, the case study within this article from the Idaho public health sector develops an objective, science-informed, and data-driven methodology that advances the state of risk assessments. This Idaho Public Health Jurisdictional Risk Assessment (PHJRA) distinguishes itself as an assessment tool that employs a sub-county vulnerability model, and to couple socioeconomic, demographic, and public health indicators allowing multiple stakeholders improved visualization of risk in their jurisdictions. This case study helps define a new method for identifying the risk that remains after mitigation measures are implemented - labeled here as Residual Risk Assessment (RRA). Results demonstrate spatially variable social and health system vulnerability across the study area, in addition to variable mitigation capabilities and residual risk of the health districts. This outcome showcases an RRA driven vulnerability index that carries national or international applicability for disaster management and public health sectors.