The Puget Sound Call Center Coordination Project - Planning for a Public Health Emergency

Background: Providing convenient, consistent, and helpful information to the public is challenging during a disaster. Poison centers provide such service and can provide expanded services during a disaster. The Washington Poison Center is working with Public Health - Seattle/King County to develop regional call center coordination and surge capacity, including health messaging and medical phone triage, in the event of a pandemic or disaster. Methods: Objectives for the plan include triaging callers with medical needs, directing them to available care, supporting care at home (to avoid overcrowding of hospitals and clinics, and reduce transmission of contagious diseases), and providing consistent, timely information to the public about health issues and interventions. Potential surge partners in a networked call center response include the poison center, nurse advice lines, crisis lines, regional 2-1-1 programs, emergency management agencies, non-profit organizations, and businesses with call center capabilities. A platform to connect multiple call centers and individuals working from home with a toll free hotline is being developed. This virtual technology, commonly used in business, will allow cost-effective rapid scalability when needed. Testing is set to begin this summer. Results: Various call center operations have been surveyed to assess capacity, staffing, and willingness to participate in an integrated response with Public Health. To date, over 15 agencies and organizations have agreed. Discussion: Integration of call centers, including the poison center, and development of increased surge capacity, has the potential to provide critical information to the public during a pandemic or disaster. Cross-agency collaboration is underway to develop triage guidelines, scripting, staffing, and training. The medical reserve corps may enhance surge capacity with work-at-home opportunities for phone triage. Conclusion: Integrating call center resources and networking them with novel technology in a disaster can enhance surge capacity and manage the information needs of the public. This should improve service and mitigate the overwhelming impact of potentially tens of thousands of phone calls on Public Health agencies.