Web-tools as potential assistance to Public Health Preparedness and response tasks.
Abstract
Faced with the prospect of natural and man-made emergencies for public health, it is worthwhile to see whether any of the new software tools might help. The new "web-2" tools have changed in a surprising way - they are easier and more fun to use. These tools are often free of charge, require no installation, consume no disk-space, and require no IT-department support -- all of which meet constraints that public health workers have faced in the past. The focus of these new tools is on cost, agility, simplicity, ease-of-use, and collaborative work. This paper reviews what tools are available, and how they might fit into the set of public health tool-box. Finally, training issues and other barriers to adoption are assessed, with an eye to figuring out what University-based Disaster Preparedness centers might do to make this technology legitimate, more accessible, and better utilized.
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