Lessons from the reestablishment of Public Health Laboratory activities in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria.
other · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 31221973.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-019-10776-y and PMC identifier 6586791.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Public Health Laboratories (PHLs) in Puerto Rico did not escape the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria. We implemented a quality management system (QMS) approach to systematically reestablish laboratory testing, after evaluating structural and functional damage. PHLs were inoperable immediately after the storm. Our QMS-based approach began in October 2017, ended in May 2018, and resulted in the reestablishment of 92% of baseline laboratory testing capacity. Here, we share lessons learned from the historic recovery of the largest United States' jurisdiction to lose its PHL capacity, and provide broadly applicable tools for other jurisdictions to enhance preparedness for public health emergencies.