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Speaker discusses importance of disaster preparedness plans in hospital settings
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LAS VEGAS — When it comes to responding to mass casualty and disaster events, both hospitals and individual departments should have a disaster preparedness plan established, according to a presenter at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting.
“For those interested in this arena in working with your hospital system, the first thing is to find out where your disaster committee is, who is on the committee, what is your hospital’s disaster plan, do you have representation on your hospital disaster committee [and] does your department have a plan?” Christopher T. Born, MD, said in his presentation here.
Hospital disaster preparedness plans should be simple and flexible and made for the individuals who are going to execute them, according to Born. He noted there needs to be clear lines of authority, preplanned organizational structure within the department and pre-assigned tasks. Outlying hospitals should also be managed into the preparedness plan, Born said, with all aspects integrated into a hospital incident command structure that can accommodate everyone involved.
“The actual planning process is critical to success,” Born said. “If it gets people talking to each other, it helps to tease our potential problems and concerns. It develops contacts between different departments [and] people get to know who the other people, the other players and stakeholders are. It breaks down barriers. It creates understanding, flexibility and trust.”
The most critical planning instrument, Born noted, is the hazard vulnerability analysis, which focuses on the most likely internal and external threats and risks in the area of the hospital. Once the probability of those potential problems and hazards is calculated, Born said the next step is to define the level of preparedness of the hospital and areas that need improvement.
“You develop a matrix and a grid of potential hazards that might impact your facility and you work through it to make sure that you have all the different boxes checked off and make sure that you have some plans for each of these contingencies,” he said.
However, Born added that implementation of a preparedness plan does not mean the hospital is prepared.
“When it hits the fan, you figure out what you have not thought about,” Born said. “Also, if you do drills, you figure out the things that you have not been working on in your facility.” – by Casey Tingle
Reference:
Born CT. Requirements and considerations for institutional and individual readiness. Presented at: American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting; March 12-16, 2019; Las Vegas.
Disclosure: Born reports no relevant financial disclosures.