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Healthcare Preparedness and Resilience in the Face of Climate Change
Climate change is adversely affecting many different aspects of human health, from water and air quality to the environmental and social determinants of health, and to the frequency and intensity of disaster events. In addition, climate change is increasingly directly threatening the delivery of healthcare services and healthcare infrastructure. Given the scale and complexity of these problems, healthcare emergency managers need to carefully structure their approach to identifying, mitigating, and prioritizing their climate change preparedness and resilience efforts. This session will present current data on the consequences of climate change for healthcare system resilience, identify urgent planning priorities and strategies, and suggest key partnerships that can help healthcare emergency managers and their facilities in their efforts.
Dr. Paul Biddinger is the Chief Preparedness and Continuity Officer at Mass General Brigham (MGB) and the Chief of the Division of Emergency Preparedness in the Department of Emergency Medicine at MGB. He holds the Ann L. Prestipino MPH Endowed Chair in Emergency Preparedness and is also the Director of the Center for Disaster Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), which houses the ASPR-funded Regional Disaster Health Response System (RDHRS) program and Regional Emerging Special Pathogens Treatment Center (RESPTC) for HHS Region 1 (New England). Dr. Biddinger additionally serves as the Co-Director of the Emergency Preparedness Research, Evaluation and Practice (EPREP) Program at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health and holds appointments at Harvard Medical School and at the Chan School. Dr. Biddinger serves as a medical officer for the MA-1 Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT) in the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) in the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Dr. Biddinger is an active researcher in the field of emergency preparedness and has lectured nationally and internationally on topics of preparedness and disaster medicine. He has authored numerous articles and book chapters on multiple topics related to disaster medicine and emergency medical operations and has responded to numerous prior disaster events, including Hurricane Katrina, Superstorm Sandy, the Boston Marathon bombings, the Nepal earthquakes, and many others.
He completed his undergraduate study in public policy at Princeton University, attended medical school at Vanderbilt University, and completed residency training in emergency medicine at Harvard.