NSW Department of Health, Locked Mail Bag 961, North Sydney NSW 2059, Australia.
BMC Public Health. 2009 Sep 8;9:324. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-9-324.
Mass gatherings have been defined by the World Health Organisation as "events attended by a sufficient number of people to strain the planning and response resources of a community, state or nation". This paper explores the public health response to mass gatherings in Sydney, the factors that influenced the extent of deployment of resources and the utility of planning for mass gatherings as a preparedness exercise for other health emergencies.
Not all mass gatherings of people require enhanced surveillance and additional response. The main drivers of extensive public health planning for mass gatherings reflect geographical spread, number of international visitors, event duration and political and religious considerations. In these instances, the implementation of a formal risk assessment prior to the event with ongoing daily review is important in identifying public health hazards.Developing and utilising event-specific surveillance to provide early-warning systems that address the specific risks identified through the risk assessment process are essential. The extent to which additional resources are required will vary and depend on the current level of surveillance infrastructure.Planning the public health response is the third step in preparing for mass gatherings. If the existing public health workforce has been regularly trained in emergency response procedures then far less effort and resources will be needed to prepare for each mass gathering event. The use of formal emergency management structures and co-location of surveillance and planning operational teams during events facilitates timely communication and action.
One-off mass gathering events can provide a catalyst for innovation and engagement and result in opportunities for ongoing public health planning, training and surveillance enhancements that outlasted each event.
世界卫生组织将“大规模集会”定义为“参加人数足以使社区、州或国家的规划和应对资源紧张的事件”。本文探讨了悉尼对大规模集会的公共卫生应对措施，以及影响资源部署程度的因素，以及将大规模集会规划作为其他卫生应急准备工作的效用。
并非所有人群的大规模集会都需要加强监测和额外的应对措施。大规模集会公共卫生规划的主要驱动因素反映了地理分布、国际游客人数、活动持续时间以及政治和宗教因素。在这些情况下，在活动前进行正式的风险评估，并在活动期间进行日常审查，以确定公共卫生危害，这一点很重要。制定和利用特定于事件的监测来提供早期预警系统，以解决通过风险评估过程确定的具体风险，这一点至关重要。所需额外资源的程度将有所不同，具体取决于当前的监测基础设施。规划公共卫生应对措施是为大规模集会做准备的第三步。如果现有公共卫生工作人员定期接受应急响应程序的培训，那么为每次大规模集会活动做准备所需的努力和资源就会减少。正式的应急管理结构的使用以及在活动期间将监测和规划运营团队集中在一起，有助于及时进行沟通和采取行动。
一次性大规模集会活动可以为创新和参与提供催化剂，并为持续的公共卫生规划、培训和监测增强提供机会，这些机会将持续超过每次活动。
