Post-disaster recovery presents an opportunity to improve beyond
the pre-disaster status quo. While national efforts often focus
on a “return to normal,” this can overlook the suboptimal
conditions that exist for many, including preventable health
issues and inequitable service access.
The recovery process should be seen as a chance to enhance
community health, resilience, and sustainability, preparing them
better for future challenges. Supported by various U.S.
departments and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Institute
of Medicine has formed an expert committee to create a disaster
recovery approach that reduces health impacts and fosters
healthier communities.
Yes, a hospital may utilize a vendor-created or delivered
training course. The National Integration Center (NIC) recognizes
that many operational aspects of the NIMS, including ICS
training, are available through, state, local and tribal training
agencies and private training vendors. It is not necessary that
the training requirements be met through a federal source.
The hospital verifies that it is NIMS compliant by meeting the
fourteen NIMS Objectives for Healthcare Organizations.
A free course
on IS100/200/700 is available on this site for hospital staff
who wish to self-study, take the post test, and print a
certificate of completion.
FEMA also offers free
online training courses in IS 100/200/700/800 for hospital
staff that wish to self-study, take the post test, and print a
certificate of completion.
While ICS 300/400 are not required courses for healthcare
personnel, Emergency Managers and interested individuals may find
the training of value. Courses may be found from the links
on this website under Training &
Exercises.
This tool was was developed by the CHA Hospital
Preparedness Program to assist hospitals in development,
implementation and evaluation of their exercises.
Individual exercises are part of an Exercise and Evaluation Cycle
under the hospital’s Emergency Management Program. These
exercises may be isolated within the hospital, or part of a
larger community, or even statewide, exercise such as the
California Statewide Medical Health Exercise. It is the
intent of the checklist to provide an overview, guidance and
resources for hospitals which allows a more coordinated effort
and can be tailored to the facility.
This tool is designed to assist hospitals in evaluating and
enhancing their surge capacity planning efforts. It provides a
comprehensive list of key components of surge planning, including
staffing, space, supplies, communication, patient care, quality,
training, and exercises.
The checklist helps hospitals assess their readiness to manage
increased patient volumes during emergencies or disasters and
identify areas for improvement in surge response capabilities.
The attached Guidelines for Developing Best Practices to Assist
California Hospitals in Preparing for and Responding to a Water
Disruption may be used for any hospital water disruption planning
activities.
These guidelines were drafted under the CHA Hospital Preparedness
Program with participation from a work group which was comprised
of hospital representatives and state regulatory agencies.
The guidelines address:
Overview of a hospital water disruption
The hospital water supply planning team
Conducting a water use audit
Role of California Regulatory Agencies in a water disruption
Water disruption standards and regulations
Coordinating with the community response to a water
disruption
The guidelines contain links to federal and state references and
include six attachments which provide additional information and
check lists to assist hospitals with water disruption planning
and response.
Particular aspects of emergency care for children may be
especially difficult for rural hospitals to meet as they often
have less access to pediatric and emergency medicine trained
physicians.
The attached study “Pediatric Care in Rural Hospital Emergency
Departments”, was compiled using data analysis which
compared rural and urban hospitals’ responses on various
dimensions of pediatric ED care: