Using after-action reviews of outbreaks to enhance public health responses: lessons for COVID-19

Dalton, Craig B; Kirk, Martyn D; Durrheim, David N

After-action reviews (AARs) of Australian outbreaks have led to recommendations for enhancing readiness to respond. Recommendations for improvement from 14 Australian public health outbreak reviews facilitated between 2006 and 2020 were analysed for common themes and implications for the ongoing COVID-19 response. The challenges repeatedly identified in the AARs related to: information management and interagency access; incident command systems (ICS); surge response; clarification of outbreak leadership; communication; rapid risk assessment and decision support A national framework for enhancing outbreak response should embed AARs as standard practice supported by a national register of ARRs' findings and recommendations. Learnings from past outbreaks and intra-action reviews could further enhance pandemic responses.