Hospital exercises, straight from the EM’s mouth
Healthcare Preparedness
by Mitch Saruwatari
The ability to pre-assign and train personnel for a hospital emergency is a daunting task for any emergency manager, requiring extensive documentation and skills in communication and coordination. But it doesn’t have to be, if a comprehensive exercise program is established that builds on response competencies learned over time.
Disaster and emergency exercises let a hospital test its disaster preparedness plans and response, as well as monitor and maintain the healthcare facility’s state of readiness. A good model to follow is outlined in the Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP), which provides all the critical components for building a long-term exercise program, as well as creating and summarizing individual exercises and drills. It is also a useful way to meet accreditation standards and improve collaboration with local response agencies.
This column identifies successes and challenges to creating and implementing drills and exercises, with three leading healthcare emergency management professionals from around the country who also represent diverse facilities and communities. Each of the contributors has many years of emergency management experience and been involved in numerous exercises and several real-life incidents.
See Hospital exercises, straight from the EM’s mouth
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An unexercised contingency plan could be worse than no plan at all!
Be sure to read Disaster Recovery Testing: Exercising Your Contingency Plan, Philip Jan Rothstein, FBCI, Editor for valuable tips, techniques and insights.
Tags: business continuity exercise, disaster recovery exercise, disaster recovery testing, helathcare preparedness
