Disaster preparedness is critical in healthcare organizations as it facilitates patient and staff safety during emergencies. The adversities may be natural or artificial, including floods, hurricanes, disease outbreaks, terror attacks, and fire eruptions. New York City is prone to most of the mentioned catastrophes, making it necessary for hospitals such as the Mid-Hudson Forensic Psychiatric Center (MHFPC) to have well-crafted disaster preparedness plans. The procedures prioritize evacuation and sheltering mechanisms and should align with the local Emergency Management System’s Plan (EMSP) to ensure effective communication among all involved agencies. Hence, the MHFPC has a clear disaster preparedness plan prioritizing various upheavals that jeopardize the well-being of patients, practitioners, and other crucial stakeholders.
Disasters in which MHFPC has an Emergency Plan
MHFPC has disaster preparedness plans to curtail emergencies such as fire eruptions, disease outbreaks, and hurricanes. The campaign is spearheaded by a task force involving nurses, physicians, and representatives from the hospital management and provides regular staff training and drills to ensure effective execution. There are specific fire assembly points as the catastrophe is usually spontaneous, unlike the National Hurricane Center forecasted hurricanes. Therefore, MHFPC has an emergency preparedness plan that prioritizes stakeholder well-being, securing the hospital’s critical infrastructure to prevent the disruption of healthcare services.
MHFPC’s Plan Interface with the Local EMSP
New York State has precise occupational safety requirements that corporate players must fulfill before they are allowed to operate. Consequently, MHFPC’s disaster management strategy aligns with the state emergency management agency’s (EMA) plan. It leverages an incident command system (ICS), providing a communication and resource allocation structure (Public Health Emergency, n.d.). Firstly, the organization follows New York EMA’s emergency response protocols and procedures, which require immediate reporting of disasters such as fire outbreaks to facilitate an appropriate Emergency Operations Plan. MHFPC also understands its role in the local EMSP, primarily on communication, evacuation, and resource management protocols, and prioritizes workforce training to boost execution effectiveness (Farra et al., 2017). The hospital also participates in local disaster management drills and exercises to assess its emergency response plan, helping familiarize its task force with natural incidents such as hurricanes and disease outbreaks. Thus, MHFPC observes the state’s occupational safety rules and ensures its emergency preparedness plan matches the local EMSP.
Management of Communication in Disaster Response
Proper communication structures are vital in disaster/emergency response management. Consequently, MHFPC’s disaster preparedness plan entails an ICS with clear roles and guidelines for disseminating information during an emergency. For instance, the organization’s emergency response task force’s head oversees internal and external communication, instructing unit leaders to initiate evacuation processes whenever necessary. During instances such as fire outbreaks, the local EMA is contacted immediately, mainly after leaders ascertain that organization-level resources are inadequate and may, in turn, solicit support from charitable firms such as Red Cross. Hence, communication is facilitated through a standard ICS integrating the MHFPC’s plan and New York state’s EMSP.
Criteria For Initiating an Official ICS
The ICS is effective in emergency response when multiple agencies are involved. The criteria for initiating an official ICS considers the emergency incident’s size, complexity, and legal requirements (Kaye et al., 2021). Firstly, substantial fire outbreaks require ICS as their scope may exceed an organization’s response capability. On the other hand, disease outbreaks, including COVID-19, are complex, and hospitals may be required by law to communicate as they are federally classified as disasters. Further, the Federal Emergency Management Agency directs using ICS when handling large-scale adversities (Farcas et al., 2020). Another criterion that may be considered is incident duration, as emergencies that last long may require several agencies to manage. Thus, disaster magnitude, length, and threat may force organizations to initiate an official ICS.
Overall, disaster preparedness is vital in protecting lives and infrastructures during catastrophes. MHFPC’s emergency plan prioritizes hurricanes and fire disease outbreaks and aligns with New York state’s EMSP. The organization initiates an official ISP, per the local EMA protocols, whenever emergencies are complex and large-scale. Therefore, disaster preparedness plans are practical occupational safety tools.
References
Farcas, A., Ko, J., Chan, J., Malik, S., Nono, L., & Chiampas, G. (2021). Use of incident command system for disaster preparedness: A model for an emergency department COVID-19 response. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, 15(3), e31-e36.
Farra, S. L., Miller, E. T., Gneuhs, M., Brady, W., Cosgrove, E., Simon, A., … & Hausfeld, J. (2017). Disaster management: Communication up, across, and down. Nursing Management, 48(7), 51.
Kaye, A. D., Cornett, E. M., Kallurkar, A., Colontonio, M. M., Chandler, D., Mosieri, C., … & Fox, C. J. (2021). Framework for creating an incident command center during crises. Best Practice & Research Clinical Anaesthesiology, 35(3), 377–388.
Public Health Emergency. (n.d.). Emergency management and the incident command system. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.phe.gov/Preparedness/planning/mscc/handbook/chapter1/Pages/emergencymanagement.aspx
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