Introduction
10. The grading of an emergency triggers the activation of WHO's Incident Management System (IMS), which provides a standardized yet flexible approach to managing WHO's response to the emergency.
20. The key concepts and principles of IMS are:
- Standardized emergency functions
- Flexibility, adaptability and scalability
- Interoperability
Application
30. Within 24 hours of grading acute emergencies, WHO will undertake the actions listed in Annex 1 (See ERF p 27). They include establishing an initial Incident Management Team (IMT) in-country to cover the critical IMS functions.
40. There are three main categories of WHO responsibilities for managing emergency response: accountability, operational oversight, and technical and operational support (see table below).
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Critical functions
50. WHO must fulfil six critical functions at the country level: planning & monitoring, operations support and logistics, technical expertise and health operations, health information and epidemiology, partner coordination and engagement, finance and administration. These essential functions have the flexibility to adapt to different emergencies and are expandable to include comprehensive sub-functional operations areas as needed. As an emergency evolves, the IMS functions must be contextualized and adapted, while sub-functions can be added (or removed) to address expanding (or shrinking) needs for services and support.
60. The leadership function is responsible for the overall management of the WHO response, including supervising Team Leads for all other IMS functions.
70. Partner coordination and engagement ensure that collective action results in appropriate coverage and quality of essential health services for the affected population, especially the most vulnerable. The liaison sub-function responds to requests or concerns from both health and non-health stakeholder groups.
80. The planning and monitoring function collects, analyses and disseminates information on health risks, needs, service coverage and gaps, and the performance of the response. It uses information to develop and continually refine the response and inform recovery planning.
90. The technical expertise and health operations function provides up-to-date, evidence-based field operations, policies and guidance, and technical expertise. This is to promote the implementation of the most effective, context-specific public health interventions and clinical services by operational partners.
100. The operational support and logistics function ensures that WHO staff and, where agreed, operational partners have a reliable operational platform to deliver effectively on the WHO action plan and joint operational plan. It may also support the logistics capacities of the Ministry of Health.
110. The finance and administration function provides finance, management and administrative support to enable the smooth functioning of the WHO response. It ensures that decisions made by the Incident Manager trigger the provision of management and administrative services according to WHO SOPs and performance standards. Before grading, it ensures the availability of funds (up to USD 50,000) and activation of Emergency SOPs to allow for risk assessments and detailed field investigations.
120. The health information and epidemiology function involves collecting, analyzing and disseminating emergency-specific and contextual information and data, including health risks and impacts, needs, service coverage and gaps. It uses information to develop and continually refine the response and inform recovery planning.
IMS structure
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