Hospital and Emergency Department Preparedness of emergencies and assign scoring values to

each one that reflect the likelihood, its impact

Focus of Healthcare Emergency Management
and the institution’s readiness for the
1. Communication emergency.
2. Surge Capacity Example: a pandemic may be scored a
3. Volunteer Management very high impact, low likelihood and
4. Security intermediate readiness score.
5. Hazard Material (HAZMAT) and chemical,  This allows numeric comparison between
biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive hazard. It is a good basis for creation of
(CBRNE) preparedness organized framework to direct where an
6. Collaboration with public health institution’s emergency management
7. Education and Training committee’s energy and efforts should go.
8. Equipment and supplies  An HVA then lists the miotigation,
9. Worker safety preparedness, response and recovery activities
10. Drills and exercise mecessary for each hazard.
11. ED disaster operations
Hospital Emergency Management Committee
12. Trauma Central role
 Consist of an board across sections of hospital
Hospital Preparedness
departments, including clinical, support,
 Hospitals must have adequate plans to handle operational and financial units.
both disasters and terrorism within an “all-  Qualification for committee chairperson should
hazard” approach to ensure preparedness for include relevant trainings and skills in
any possible events. emergency management
 Members should represent all hospital areas.
Activities in Hospital Preparedness  Key responsibilities of the hospital emergency
Hazard Vulnerability Analysis management committee include overseeing and
guiding the hospital’s mitigation, preparedness,
 HVA is a tool that emergency managers can response and recovery efforts.
employ to screen for risk and plan for the
strategic use of limited resources. Community linkage and community-based planning
 In a resource-constrained environment, it is  Collaborative emergency management planning
more practical for hospital managers to use between hospitals and their communities is
their available resources available to them to imperative to ensure that all stakeholders,
prioritize their efforts to manage hazards and internal and external to the institution are
their associated risks. aware of and familiar with the hospital’s
 HVA starts with identification of potential emergency management measures.
hazard. This will help the hospital managers to  Hospitals must coordinate and create linkages
identify hazards that are most likely to occur with agencies such as Department of Health,
and that will have a great impact to life and DSWD, DOST, DENR, CHED, Dep-Ed, DILG, OCD.
economic cost.
 Identifying of potential hazard can be done Phases of Emergency Planning
through collaborative surveying of key hospital
 Mitigation Measures
stakeholders. One method is to distribute, via
 Hospitals must make sustained efforts
mail or email, a blank HVA table and ask
either structural or nonstructural, to
rspondents to list all hazards that could impact
lessen the likelihood and impact of
the hospital. The list can be divided into
hazards.
natural, technological and intentional hazards.
 Structural efforts include those that the
 After identifying the potential hazard, managers
hospital performs through construction
need to organize them by listing various types
or alteration of the physical
 environment through engineered  Hospital management must address the means
solution. to screen and place volunteers.
 Nonstructural mitigation includes  Advance or early registration for volunteers
measures that hospitals undertake by may be necessary so that prior to a disaster,
modifying human behavior or they are already in conversant with the hospital.
processes.  Hospitals are required to have procedures in
 Cost-benefit analysis is considered place to rapidly credential volunteers.
 Response Measures
Stockpiling and Logistics
 Strengthening of organization’s
response capacity  Hospitals must be self-sufficient to sustain and
 Activities include those measures taken provide core services without the support of
when an emergency incident occurs and external assistance for at least 96 hours from
may involve care for patient, staff and the inception of an incident with a goal of 7
visitors: to limit injuries, loss of life, and days.
damage to physical environment.  Supply chains can lead to shortage in critical
 Recovery Function sources such as drugs, blood products, oxygen
The primary goal of recovery is to masks, PPEs and ventilators.
restore core services and normal operations.
The core of recovery planning are Resource Inventories
financial, human resources, and support  Regular inventory of resources is necessary
services.  These inventories should include medical and
nonmedical (water, food, linen, fuel for
generators, transport vehicles).
 The emergency management plan must include
replenishment of supplies.
Elements of Disaster Planning Security
Surge Capacity  Includes control of flow of patients, access to
facility only by authorized staff, accounting for
 It is important that planners recognizes the
staff and patients in times of evacuation,
certain disasters like terrorist attacks,
prevention of potentially contaminated patients
destructive calamities may lead to Mass
entering the hospital prior to contamination
casualty incident, hence surge of patients may
staff, other patients and facilities and
take place.
prevention of acts of terrorism.
 Referral system must be in place.
 Manpower and facilities must be prepared to Collaboration and Integration with Public Health
accommodate the surge.
 3 Cs of Emergency Response Planning:
Staffing Collaboration, Cooperation and Coordination
 Hospitals should encourage utilization of
personal preparedness resources that include
checklist for food, water, medication and Facility Evacuation
financial record.  The hospital should list the methods used to
 It is imperative to address the challenges in evacuate people and inventories of the
staffing during crises and that the emergency resources and related equipment and supplies
management committee collaborates with staff needed to also be evacuated.
to ensure the highest levels of service provision
throughout the duration of any incident.

Credentialing