Polycrisis means an increased occurrence of coincident, cascading, and multiple events, such as a heatwave followed by bushfire or overland flooding combined with storm surge.

The effects of climate change

With the changing climate there are more disasters and events occurring simultaneously and back-to-back. This means there is less time for recovery and a greater impact on physical and mental health and resilience, compared to a single event.

The term “permacrisis” reflects the possibility that our communities could remain in a state of climate crisis due to the frequency and number of these events.

There are significant risks to the healthcare system, including workforce shortages from those exposed to extreme weather events, damage to healthcare infrastructure and an increase in demand for healthcare.

Disaster management and business continuity planning in SA Health

SA Health has a range of disaster management and business continuity planning in place: