Point-of-care coordinator leadership in preparedness, crisis, and recovery

The objectives of this article were to identify the skills, functions, and leadership characteristics of personnel who perform point-of-care (POC) testing, coordinate it for the health system, and also respond to crises; to describe how to assess beneficial and poor outcomes resulting from emergency events and how also to perform hazard vulnerability analysis with strategic disaster planning that will enhance future actions and reactions; and to discuss potential POC quality issues arising during or after a crisis event to improve preparedness, response, and recovery. Evidence gathered thus far suggests that POC testing can improve the care of victims caught in disasters and complex emergencies. Therefore, we provide a roadmap for the POC coordinator who is responsible for the continuity of screening, diagnostic, and monitoring services crucial to patient care when other services are either interrupted or unavailable. We identify the importance of the incident command system and hazard vulnerability analysis. We provide practical recommendations regarding education, training, competency, and the preservation of quality irrespective of where testing occurs. Among other tools that we systematically assemble then illustrate with a case example, recommendations for future preparedness, crisis response, and recovery methods should improve victim and patient outcomes as well as enhance crisis standards of care.