Natural disasters cause nearly 500 deaths annually in the United States. Unfortunately, healthcare facilities in the U.S. continue to fall short in disaster planning and preparedness. This lack of preparation creates the potential for serious ramifications, putting staff, patients, and the financial security of the hospital at risk. Below are five key components to an effective emergency management plan.
1. Communication
In the past, it's often been a natural reaction for organizations to try to withhold information from the public. This is the wrong approach. Healthcare facilities can prove their worth to their communities by being open and honest.
In today's world, information will leak out one way or another, so it's essential the public gets the correct information from the healthcare experts instead of the wrong information from someone else. During a disaster, everyone inside the organization needs to be informed.
To effectively manage an emergency, all personnel must be on the same page - medical, legal, government affairs, and facilities management, among others, have to understand what's going on.
2. Comprehensive training
Your facility may not face an emergency situation for many years. While there is no substitute for the real thing, training is vital to ensuring your staff is as prepared as possible. Another important factor to consider when implementing a training plan is community involvement.
Healthcare facilities may assume they will have the full cooperation of local ambulance services, police, and fire departments, but those agencies often have other responsibilities in the event of a natural disaster. Establishing their role during training is essential to emergency management preparations.
3. Knowledge of Assets
Naturally, many people panic in the face of disaster. This places a heavy burden on government agencies and other local resources to provide relief for people dealing with a large-scale emergency.
Hospitals cannot depend on outside help. It is imperative that healthcare facilities take stock of their assets in order to understand capabilities and limitations ahead of any natural disaster.
4. Technology Failsafes and Protocol
Every hospital has a medical records department. Those departments need a certain amount of physical space, access to files, and software systems to get through every day. What happens when a disaster occurs and knocks the software systems offline, or blocks access to records? How will the hospital operate?
Unfortunately, healthcare facilities often wait until a disaster has created a problem before trying to find a solution, losing precious time in the process. A business continuity plan helps to identify the hardware, software, space, and other resources that each area of your facility requires to remain operational. It is crucial to recognize these needs in order to develop alternative solutions before any of the requirements are disrupted by disaster.
5. Healthcare Leadership Involvement
Every hospital is focused on patient healing and safety. Occasionally, disaster preparedness is seen as a secondary pursuit, less impactful than the demands of day to day healthcare. However, the ability to keep your facility open and treating patients during a disaster is an enormous asset to the community, as well as a significant revenue generator.
Healthcare facility leadership must understand the importance of a strong emergency management program and devote the proper resources towards disaster preparations. Employees with disaster response experience are vital pieces of the emergency management process -- they keep facilities from spiraling out of control.
More importantly, they enable your hospital to continue functioning and generating revenue. An effective emergency management department is a valuable insurance policy. A natural disaster can wreak havoc on an entire community in an instant. If your healthcare facility is not equipped to respond, you lose the community's trust as well as a significant revenue stream.
Expert emergency management is essential to the safety of staff, patients, and the hospital's financial security. Are you prepared?
About the Author
Scott Cormier is the Vice President of Emergency Management, Environment of Care (EOC) and Safety at Medxcel Facilities Management, specializing in facilities management, safety, environment of care and emergency management and provides healthcare service support products and drives in-house capabilities, saving and efficiencies for healthcare organizations that, in turn, improve the overall healing environment for patients and staff.
Cormier leads the development and implementation of emergency management, general safety, security, fire protection, life safety and accident-prevention programs for a national network of hospitals that Medxcel Facilities Management serves.
