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NM DOH All Hazard Incident Management Glossary
Intro | A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W XYZ Sources
Download: NMDOH_IM_Glossary_May_2008 
SAIC – Special Agent In Charge (FBI)
Sample Size – the number of units chosen from a population or an environment.
SAR – Search and Rescue
SARS – Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
SAT - Situation Analysis Team; group convened to decide if an emergency event warrants the activation of an Emergency Operations Center.
Screening – procedures to differentiate “apparently well” persons who have a disease from those who do not.
Secondary Hazard – a threat resulting from another emergency. For example, dam failure might be a secondary hazard associated with earthquakes.
Sepsis – the poisoning of the system by the introduction of toxin producing microorganisms into the blood.
Septicemia – a systemic syndrome caused by pathogenic organisms or their toxins in the bloodstream.
SHA – School Health Advocate (NMDOH)
Shelter-in-Place – the strategy of encouraging populations to stay put and take shelter, rather than trying to evacuate.
Short-Term Outcomes – the impacts on those groups who are immediately affected by risk management strategies, including changes in service levels and behavior.
SITREP – Situation Report
SLD – State Laboratory Division (NMDOH)
Smallpox – variola, a virus that causes a serious, contagious and sometimes fatal disease, producing substantial morbidity and mortality. There is no specific treatment for smallpox and the only prevention is vaccination.
SMHA – School Mental Health Advocate (NMDOH)
SNS - Strategic National Stockpile; a national cache of drugs, vaccines, and supplies that can be deployed to areas struck by disasters, including bioterrorism. (US)
SOG – Standard Operating Guidelines
Solvent – a liquid capable of dissolving or dispersing another substance (for example
acetone or mineral spirits).
SOP – Standard Operating Procedures
Source of Contamination – point where a hazardous substance originates, such as a landfill, waste pond, incinerator, storage tank, or drum.
Source of Infection – the host which first introduces an infection into a population.
Special Populations – See: At-Risk Populations
SPO – State Personnel Office (NM)
Spokesperson – Public Information Officer or other person designated to deliver messages to the media.
Stakeholder - an individual, group, or organization that may be affected by or otherwise interested in a risk management decision.
Standard of care - Legally and ethically, an acceptable “standard of care” requires that a health care provider (or health care system) exercise the education, training, skills and diligence that is reasonably expected of a health care provider (or health care system) practicing under the same or similar circumstances. This standard essentially means that a prudent health care provider should provide a reasonable diagnostic and treatment process for the care of a certain type of patient, with a certain type of illness, under certain clinical circumstances, which include available resources.
Standard Precautions – infection control guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control in 1997 that synthesize the major features of Universal Precautions and Body Substance Isolation into a single set of precautions to be used for the care of all patients in hospitals regardless of their presumed infection status. Standard Precautions are supplemented with Transmission Specific Precautions, as necessary, given specific communicable disease.
START Triage - Simple Triage And Rapid Treatment/Transport is a rapid approach to triaging large number of casualties. START quickly distinguishes between critically ill victims and the less-severely injured. Following a specific algorithm, a first responder quickly assesses airway, respiration, pulse and level of consciousness to categorize a patient’s condition. The categories are IMMEDIATE, DELAYED, MINOR, and DEAD/DYING.
State – when capitalized, refers to any State of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and any possession of the United States. See Section 2 (14), Homeland Security Act of 2002, Pub. L. 107-296, 116 Stat. 2135 (2002).
Statistics – a branch of mathematics that deals with collecting, reviewing, summarizing, and interpreting data or information. Statistics are used to determine whether differences between study groups are meaningful.
Strategic – strategic elements of incident management are characterized by continuous long-term, high-level planning by organizations headed by elected or other senior officials. These elements involve the adoption of long-range goals and objectives, the setting of priorities; the establishment of budgets and other fiscal decisions, policy development, and the application of measures of performance or effectiveness.
Surface Water – water on the surface of the earth such as in lakes, rivers, streams, ponds, and spring (Compare with groundwater).
Surge Capacity – the accommodation by the health system to a transient sudden rise in demand for health care following an incident with real or perceived adverse health effects. As neither the risk of surge nor the size of surge can be estimated, neither can surge capacity be estimated. The proper approach to surge is surge management planning rather than surge capacity planning.
Surge Endurance – the ability measured in time on an organization to maintain at “surge capacity.”
Surveillance – the systematic ongoing collection, collation, and analysis of data and the timely dissemination of information to those who need to know so that action can be taken. Surveillance is the essential feature of epidemiological practice.
Surveillance of Disease – scrutiny of all aspects of occurrence and spread of a disease that are pertinent to effective control. Included are the systematic collection and evaluation of: morbidity and mortality reports; special reports of field investigations of epidemics and of individual cases; isolation and identification of infectious agents by laboratories; data concerning the availability, use and untoward effects of vaccines and toxoids, immune globulins, insecticides, and other substances used in control; information regarding immunity levels in segments of the population; and other relevant epidemiologic data.
Suspected Case – a person whose diagnosis is likely to be a particular disease or condition, with diagnosis based on signs, symptoms, and findings in the absence of confirmation.
Synergistic Effect – a biologic response to multiple substances where one substance worsens the effect of another substance. The combined effect of the substances acting together is greater than the sum of the effects of the substances acting by themselves.
