Fires
Tornadoes
Hurricanes
Flooding
Ice Storms
Loss of Power
Disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, ice storms, flooding and other natural, technological and man-made events continue to identify vulnerabilities within the healthcare industry for preparedness and infrastructure capabilities. These disasters illustrate the urgent need for effective healthcare Emergency Preparedness Programs (EPPs). EPPs are comprised of policy and procedures collectively known as Emergency Operation Plans (EOPs), and are accompanied by leadership, management, and staff training/exercises to implement these plans. Agencies such as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), State Departments of Health, The Joint Commission, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) are designing standards and/or surveying to ensure healthcare facilities have updated their procedures and training based on lessons learned.
This is How
The support programs we offer include:
- Emergency Preparedness Program (EPP) Support Services designed to satisfy the new requirements outlined by CMS in the final rule: “Emergency Preparedness Requirements for Medicare and Medicaid Participating Providers and Suppliers.”
- An EPP assessment for individual facilities and health systems, including review and completion of the Hazard Vulnerability Assessment (HVA).
- Customization of the Hospital Incident Command System (HICS), or developing facility-specific Healthcare Incident Command Systems to complement their organizations (e.g., Nursing Home Incident Command System or NHICS).
- Work with the organization on the customization of certain site-specific procedures.
- Design of a Full Building Evacuation (FBE) plan including: patient preparation and packaging, vertical/horizontal evacuation routes, patient tracking, customized training and exercises.
- Leadership and management training on incident command, full building evacuation, surge capacity and overall emergency operations.
- Influx of patients and Surge Capacity planning – Full survey of every area capable of handling a surge to review the number of patients that can be accommodated and the staff, equipment and other resources & assets necessary to accomplish the surge.
- Annual continuous readiness services.
- The design of Mutual Aid Plans for hospitals and long-term care addressing evacuation and resource/asset support, in partnership with localities, counties, regions, Health Care Coalitions and entire states.
