Disaster Management Systems for Health Care Disaster preparedness in health care continues to transform. Events such as hurricane Katrina, the Boston Marathon bombings of 2013 and the terror attacks of September 11, 2001 serve as examples on disastrous events. Health care facilities must prepare for these and other types of highly difficult events that can stress the organization and test the facilities disaster plan. The saying, prepare for the worst and hope for the best serves to illustrate how health care institutions must plan and prepare for unforeseen events. Health institutions are on the front lines when disaster strikes. Whether it is capacity and capabilities or keeping operations up and running, every health care facility …show more content…
This game plan helps educate and assure reactions to various events are understood and rehearsed. No game plan can account for all events, however it can assist with general knowledge on how to respond to these stressful situations. Having a well understood game plan can improve the speed and quality of the response helping to mitigate the impact. Maintaining and practicing the game helps everyone understand their role and responsibilities toward preparedness and execution. This understanding can avoid a loss of precious seconds critical to successful patient outcomes. This analysis will evaluate the aspect of disaster planning within the health care facility. It will identify approaches and responsibilities for forecasting the occurrence of these events. The analysis will discuss management’s responsibilities in planning for these events and the legal aspects surrounding disaster preparedness. The analysis will conclude with a discussion on how communication and practice are critical elements to ensuring adequate understanding of the health institutions game plan. …show more content…
Recognition of what could go wrong through forecasting and historical references in conjunction to establishing areas of weakness, helps facilitate a game plan of preparedness. These actions can help assure critical treatments necessary for life sustaining events are not interrupted. Failure to conduct due diligence in the planning and mitigation efforts can lead to undesirable consequences. This in turn can result in legal battles for failure to be responsible. Health care institutions are required to meet certain minimal standards as a way to demonstrate responsible actions. The disaster plan helps mitigate the consequence of undesirable events for areas under the facilities realm of control. Failure to conduct this planning will translate into loss of life and greater costs associated with insurance coverage (Carroll,
Both man-made and natural disasters are often devastating, resource draining and disruptive. Having a basic plan ready for these types of disaster events is key to the success of executing and implementing, as well as assessing the aftermath. There are many different ways to create an emergency operations plan (EOP) to encompass a natural and/or man-made disaster, including following the six stage planning process, collection of information, and identification of threats and hazards. The most important aspect of the US emergency management system in preparing for, mitigating, and responding to man-made and natural disasters is the creation, implementation and assessment of a community’s EOP.
The Florida Catastrophic Planning (FLCP) Initiative was conducted under the auspices of the National Catastrophic Planning Process (CPP), as mandated by the Homeland Security Act of 2002, which was amended by the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2007. The Act of 2007 expanded the roles and responsibilities of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in preparing for catastrophes as a result of the dismal response to Hurricane Katrina (Ruback et al., 2010). FEMA was given specific requirements to better prepare for catastrophic disasters and the FLCP planning process embodies one the first major tests of the CCP.
"Develop a Contingency Plan." AAFP. American Academy of Family Physicians, n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2014. .
Portfolio: Risk Management Plan The concept of risk management is relatively new, as hospitals look to prevent hospital-acquired infections (HAIs), falls, injuries, and other forms of preventable harm, rather than reacting once harm has already taken place. Before this concept became a best practice, most health organizations relied on malpractice and liability insurance to protect against losses and mitigate the effects of accidents and poor patient outcomes (Colorado State University-Global Campus, 2014). Today, risk management is an integral facet of a healthcare facility’s business practice in preventing risks, ensuring regulatory compliance, minimizing financial damage, and preserving its reputation in the community. Although most large organizations have a dedicated risk management team, the facility/property manager (FPM) plays an important role within the team as the following narrative demonstrates.
Due to the horrendous events of terrorist attacks that have taken place over the last ten or so years, emergency management now, not only prepares and trains for natural events, but includes planning for terrorist/weapons of mass destruction events in greater detail. New responsibilities are being placed on emergency management managers and responders. More communities, states, local governments and businesses are seeking assistance in planning for terrorist attacks.
The major preparedness measures taken include strategic planning for disaster, making changes in procurement procedures, developing a communication plan, and investigating insurance coverage.
Haddow, G. D., Bullock, J. A., & Coppola, D. P. (2010).Introduction to emergency management. (4th ed., pp. 1-26). Burlington, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann.
...nt an organizational chart. This allows all personnel to understand what their roles are at time of incident, and whom you communicate sensitive information too. If no direction or communication is given, providing facilities run the risk of victims trying to enter their doors seeking care, which can over exhaust resources and oversaturate hospitals. Therefore, a hospital triage is implemented to assess if patient condition has worsened or remained stable, if there is a need for decontamination process, or if a person seeking assistance is a family member looking for victim. Having these procedures ensures that patients inside the hospital prior to incident are protected for potential harmful exposure to contamination agents and other measures. In addition, hospital and providing facilities are a source of information for victims, the media, and family members.
Moreover, I will endeavor to promote safe and better working environment by identification of obstacles and challenges. I will achieve this by identifying these challenges by foreseeing and developing a contingency plan. This is essential as it aids in improving the working environment for all patients and healthcare
The goals include increasing nurses’ awareness of their roles and responsibilities in preparing for and responding to a disaster. There are web-based courses available for professionals who are not necessarily planning to deploy to a disaster site but working in hospitals, schools or long-term care settings. These individuals could help with the long-range planning of patients involved in a disaster. The course is designed to protect the nurse and the public through the use of universal precautions, protective equipment, evidence collection and isolation precautions. These are areas that the emergency nurse may not consider when volunteering on the front line of a disaster (Stokowski, 2012). Other areas of the course include how to prepare for a disaster, who to notify when an event is unfolding, the assessment, diagnosing and treating of injuries and illnesses, incorporating clinical judgment skills, and supporting the community after the disaster (Orr,
Conclusion Overall, the consequences of not having a Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Plan can become costly in the event of a disaster. Most companies will find themselves in financial disarray when having to rebuild and/or replace any portions of the IT infrastructure that were destroyed during a disaster event. Hence, companies invest in insurance to cover such costs; however, there must be a balance because even with insurance an organization may still incur high expenses. Having a good disaster recovery and business continuity plan will keep your company up and running through any kind of interruptions such as power failures, IT system crashes, natural or man-made disasters, supply chain/vendor problems and more.
A disaster is not a simple emergency. A disaster is that point when a human is suffering and has a devastating situation which they themselves need help from others to survive. Regardless if natural or human caused, a disaster causes a vast amount of issues in the community. In the simulation of “Disaster in Franklin County reveals that preparation is key and even with that more can be addressed. A community nurse remains an essential part of the team involved in a disaster including before, during, and after the event.
In order to fully understand the concept of a contingency plan, there are a few aspects which need to be explored. We must first define what a contingency plan is, followed by an explanation of why contingency plans are so valuable. Furthermore, an analysis of the implementation of contingency plans should be performed. Lastly, a comparison of such plans from other industries should be done, in order to comprehend the differences in both purpose and criteria.
The purpose of this paper is to discuss potential disasters that could affect a community and cause mass causalities. Further discussion will include who is responsible for the management preparedness, what barriers must be considered and finally this paper will discuss the health care facilities role in emergency supplies and care of the patient in a disaster situation.
The increase in unpredictable natural disasters events for a decade has led to put the disaster preparedness as a central issue in disaster management. Disaster preparedness reduces the risk of loss lives and injuries and increases a capacity for coping when hazard occurs. Considering the value of the preparatory behavior, governments, local, national and international institutions and non-government organizations made some efforts in promoting disaster preparedness. However, although a number of resources have been expended in an effort to promote behavioural preparedness, a common finding in research on natural disaster is that people fail to take preparation for such disaster events (Paton, 2005; Shaw 2004; Spittal, et.al, 2005; Tierney, 1993; Kenny, 2009; Kapucu, 2008; Coppola and Maloney, 2009). For example, the fact that nearly 91% of Americans live in a moderate to high risk of natural disasters, only 16% take a preparation for natural disaster (Ripley, 2006).