The 5P approach to better preparedness
Preparedness cannot be improvised during a crisis. StepOne’s framework brings together the five things every effective public health emergency response needs.
Is the world better prepared now?
Not really — though we are seeing the beginnings of the right intent. Deforestation, climate change and new zoonotic diseases make future pandemics more likely. The question is how fast India, or any country, can prepare.
People
- A reserve “army” of trained responders at every level
- Clearly defined roles, responsibilities, procedures and protocols
- Leadership and structure to coordinate the response
- Regular training and communication
Platform
- A ready-to-use framework that coordinates the response
- One place for every stakeholder to work together
- Surfaces the metrics that matter during a response
- Easy to use, open source and free to deploy
Policies
- Empower response leaders to act quickly and decisively
- Enable collaboration across departments
- A legal framework that protects the best public outcomes
- Laws and acts that make all of the above durable
Physical goods
- A virtual inventory of physical resources needed in a response
- Policies to store, maintain, renew, use and dispose of them
- Pre-agreed terms with commercial providers
Processes
- Pre-set expert panels to define medical protocols
- Standard response SOPs at every level
- Regular training and certification for key responders
- A culture of leading teams of volunteers
Always on, regularly tested, ready to mobilise
“Always on” assets
Popular digital assets — helplines, websites and other destinations — that serve citizens every day and become the place to find relief in an emergency.
Deep linkages with government
Software plumbing embedded in the systems of government and response agencies, plus a ready-to-deploy virtual inventory of critical resources.
Periodic drills
Regular events designed to test preparedness with every stakeholder — like fire drills, for health emergencies.
A pipeline of trained people
Volunteers, fellows and S1 Force members trained in advance and ready to be mobilised when needed.
Legal & institutional frameworks
Working with government and non-government agencies to design the institutional and legal framework for health emergencies.
Global best practice
Studying what works worldwide for health and biological disaster preparedness, and adapting it to India.
Which emergencies we prepare for
Health emergencies like pandemics and epidemics, and natural disasters that threaten the health of whole populations — such as floods that spread communicable disease, or forest fires that cause breathing disorders at scale.
Our goal is to reduce the impact on life and health, with every stakeholder coordinated through the right technology and solid processes — covering resources such as hospital beds, ambulances and critical medicines.
Outcomes we work towards
- Lives saved and complications averted for millions of citizens
- Panic averted through transparent systems and effective infrastructure
- Agency returned to people and communities
- Response systems that can be activated quickly
- Prioritised channelling of public and private aid
- A disaster preparedness maturity score for states and cities
Bring the 5P approach to your state or agency
We work with national and state disaster management authorities, health departments and district administrations to design and test preparedness systems.