Emergency Health Services

The persistent trends in suicide necessitate action among mental health care providers and payers, researchers, and community leaders. Health care settings provide an important opportunity for suicide intervention and prevention, but they cannot yet fully manage suicide risk because of a lack of training, knowledge gaps, and reimbursement challenges. School, workplace, and community-based interventions can help reduce the incidence of suicidal behavior, as can better access to care and reduced access to lethal means of suicide.

Since the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic health care, public health, first responders, and other essential workers have been engaged in the most extensive emergency response in more than a century, whilst trust in science has been eroded and public health has been politicized. Against this context, the authors in this collection assess the potential mental health impacts, widening disparities, and needed interventions for future resilience of the public health workforce. What actions can be taken now to ensure more resilient systems post-pandemic?

During emergency situations, society relies upon the efficient response time and effective services of emergency facilities that include fire departments, law enforcement, search and rescue, and emergency medical services (EMS). As such, it is imperative that emergency crews are outfitted with technologies that can cut response time and can also predict where such events may occur and prevent them from happening. The safety of first responders is also of paramount concern. New tools can be implemented to map areas of vulnerability for emergency responders, and new strategies can be devised in their training to ensure that they are conditioned to respond efficiently to an emergency and also conscious of best safety protocols.

Improvements in hospital management and emergency medical and critical care services require continual attention and dedication to ensure efficient and proper care for citizens. To support this endeavor, professionals rely more and more on the application of information systems and technologies to promote the overall quality of modern healthcare. Implementing effective technologies and strategies ensures proper quality and instruction for both the patient and medical practitioners.

As our society confronts the impacts of globalization and global systemic risks--such as financial contagion, climate change, and epidemics--what can studies of the past tell us about our present and future? How Worlds Collapse offers case studies of societies that either collapsed or overcame cataclysmic adversity. The authors in this volume find commonalities between past civilizations and our current society, tracing patterns, strategies, and early warning signs that can inform decision-making today. While today's world presents unique challenges, many mechanisms, dynamics, and fundamental challenges to the foundations of civilization have been consistent throughout history--highlighting essential lessons for the future.