221.640.11
Design and Implementation of Incident Management Systems in Low- and Middle-income Countries
Location
East Baltimore
Term
Summer Institute
Department
International Health
Credit(s)
2
Academic Year
2025 - 2026
Instruction Method
In-person
Auditors Allowed
Yes, with instructor consent
Available to Undergraduate
No
Grading Restriction
Letter Grade or Pass/Fail
Course Instructor(s)
Course Instructor(s)
Brian Wahl
Contact Name
Frequency Schedule
Every Year
Resources
Are you interested to know how management structures helped stop the Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa? Have you wondered what could have been done differently to address the COVID-19 epidemic in low- and middle-income countries? Do you want to know how to design and implement an effective incident management system in a resource-limited setting? This course is designed to introduce students to the design and implementation of an IMS—a temporary organizational structure established to support the response to a health emergency.
Introduces students to the design and implementation of organizational structures, specifically the Incident Management Systems (IMS), established to support health emergency response efforts in low- and middle-income countries. Discusses the functions that enable governments and international agencies to effectively respond to health emergencies, including management, planning, operations, logistics, finance, and administration. Reviews effective and ineffective management components of health emergency response efforts using case studies that include the Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa and the COVID-19 epidemic in India. Focuses on the application of the IMS in the context of some management principles.
Learning Objectives
Upon successfully completing this course, students will be able to:
- Explain the incident management system as a common organizational model for hazards and emergencies with a focus on low- and middle-income countries
- Describe the five core functions of IMS: management, planning, operations, logistics, finance, and administration
- Recognize the role emergency operational centers play as a component of the IMS
- Evaluate the elements of effective and ineffective day-to-day response activities to crises at the local, state, national levels, and global levels
Methods of Assessment
This course is evaluated as follows:
- 10% Participation
- 40% Group Presentation
- 50% Final Paper
For the 2021 Summer Institute, this course will be taught online with recorded asynchronous lectures and synchronous online discussions. Synchronous online discussions will be tailored to those based in either the US or those based in India.