Assessment of Utility and Educational Value of a Virtual Medical Operations Center

During a disaster, responding agencies and organizations require immediate accurate information to cooperate and communicate with one another in order to effectively respond to an evolving situation. Virtual Medical Operations Center (VMOC) briefing slides identify, organize, and disseminate core information from a variety of sources during a significant health or medical crisis or disaster. They were produced by only graduate students interested in emergency management, planning, and public health fields. Research provided in this paper evaluates VMOC utility for professionals in emergency response and disaster preparedness fields and examines an incident specific VMOC that was created in response to the BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill (2010). VMOC briefing slides are further explored to discover their educational and instructional value for graduate students involved in the production of briefing slides for various events. Cross-sectional survey data measured the general attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions of three different stakeholder groups: individuals operationally involved in the BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill response (involved group), subject matter experts and stakeholders in emergency and disaster preparedness fields (planners and operators) not directly involved in the BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill response (uninvolved group), and students who created the VMOCs (student group). Survey distribution lists were obtained from the Office of Emergency Preparedness in the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals (OEP/DHH) and the Yale School of Public Health (YSPH) instructor that directs student participation. For those operationally involved in the BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill response, the VMOC briefing slides reduced the number of information sources needed to perform their duties and helped create a common operating picture among the numerous organizations involved in the response but did not have a significant effect on decision making or policy choices. VMOC briefing slides were considered to be useful in similar emergency situations by individuals not involved in response efforts. The VMOC briefing slides concept was determined to have educational value for graduate students interested in emergency, public health and medical fields.