Report on a four-day workshop on "Health Services Management in Disaster" for health personnel.

The purpose of the workshop was twofold:

1) To strengthen the knowledge and skills of health personnel in the management of health services in the event of a disaster, 2) To test the "Study Guide on Health Services Organization in the Event of a Disaster" developed for PAHO by the University of Wisconsin". The course was divided in to seven lessons, each with its own learning objectives.

The topics discussed include:

1) Health care disaster plans as part of an overall national disaster preparedness plan; 2) Organization of the health system 3) Organization of first level care at the disaster site; 4) Organization of rural health services for disaster situations; 5) Organization of health care facilities for disaster situations; 6) Implementation of the disaster plan in a health care facility and; 7) Update and evaluation of hospital disaster management plans