Crisis management textbook in open access
How can public health departments systematically prepare for handling crisis situations? A new online textbook provides recommendations for action.
04/08/2020 · Mathematik, Natur- und Ingenieurwissenschaften · TIB – Leibniz-Informationszentrum Technik und Naturwissenschaften · News · Forschungsergebnis
Given the current situation in connection with the spread of the new coronavirus, the Academy of Public Health Services and TIB – Leibniz Information Centre for Science and Technology are making available a preliminary version ofthe textbook “Krisenmanagement –Lehrbuch für den Öffentlichen Gesundheitsdienst” (Crisis management –Textbook for the public health service)under open access conditions: https://doi.org/10.25815/h0ec-f967
The publication belongs to a series of textbooks, eight in all so far, that have been written by invited experts engaged in a number of book sprints.
Checklists on communication, infrastructure and equipment in the crisis unit
The textbook provides practical advice on how public health departments and other healthcare institutions can systematically prepare for handling crisis situations, and covers the basics of crisis management. Besides considering specialist aspects, the publication especially provides recommendations for action for deployment planning and staff work. The textbook also contains practical tools such as checklists on communication, infrastructure and equipment in the crisis unit, planning aids, and templates for public health departments and hospitals.
Support through experience and practical tools
“In the current situation, we want to provide public health department staff and, in particular, newly recruited specialised personnel with recommendations for action, a wealth of experience, and practical tools to support their vital work. The authors, engaged in different parts of the public health service, have participated in theoretical discussions and gained practical experience over many years. We have pooled together their discussions and experience to create a textbook that is truly unique in Germany,” remarked Dr. Peter Tinnemann, Project Leader at the Academy of Public Health Services.
“This series of textbooks is a prime example of the role that Open Educational Resources (OER), open digital publishing workflows, and agile methods such as book sprints can play in working up such a dynamic and socially relevant field of knowledge,” added Lambert Heller, Head of the Open Science Lab at TIB, which provided the project with technical and methodological support.
The book is part of a joint project, funded by the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG), being undertaken by the Academy of Public Health Services and TIB. The project involves the participation of more than 100 specialists in several book sprints for the purpose of writing a series called “Lehrbücher für den Öffentlichen Gesundheitsdienst” (Textbooks for the public health service). These freely licensed Open Educational Resources (OER) are continuously supplemented and updated, and are permanently available via Digital Object Identifiers (DOI).