Public health emergencies, natural disasters, and mass casualty events require hospitals to implement triage protocols to prioritize care based on patient severity and treatment likelihood. Hospitals must strive for equitable access, particularly for vulnerable populations, while addressing the ethical implications of resource allocation.
“Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures…” – Benet Wilson
COVID-19 is challenging America’s health care providers in ways we never imagined. To support them in making difficult decisions during times of scarce medical supplies, California’s health care leadership has been developing guidance that will help frontline health care workers make some of the hardest decisions of their lives.
2020 Virtual Disaster Conference
This presentation reviews how hospitals can develop and implement guidelines for continuing care when resources become critically constrained. The session provides information for hospitals on the process of shifting from conventional to contingency and ultimately to crisis care, where the focus transitions from individual patient care to managing care for the broader population. Highlights of the session include the ethical and non-discriminatory decision-making processes that help prepare hospitals for adapting their operations.
This post has been archived and contains information that may be out of date.
The national supply chain strategy, FEMA reimbursement, crisis care guidelines, and managing hospital surges during a health care pandemic — register for the CHA Disaster Planning Virtual Conference, Sept. 15-16 from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., to hear about these topics and get backstage access to speakers.
2021 Virtual Disaster Conference
Presented by UC Davis Health, this session offers a unique perspective to Crisis Standards of Care, offering strategies for operating with scarce resources in disaster events. Learn how this system convened a group of physicians, bio-ethicists, communications specialists, and disaster planners to work through this incredibly arduous topic.
The pandemic has revealed weaknesses in the health care system and how we deliver care. The Emergency Department is often on the front line when making difficult decisions regarding care when resources become scarce. It is important to address this with education on crisis standards of care as well as scrutiny of existing models. This includes challenging how they are best designed to meet our current needs, where there might be crucial gaps in the assessment of need and delivery of care, and when they must be implemented.
Developed by the Institute for Crisis, Disaster and Risk Management at George Washington University, these comprehensive guidelines are specific to health care emergency management and detail the roles and responsibilities of all personnel — including health care leaders, emergency management program managers, and patient care providers — during emergency response and recovery.
Crisis has a way of reminding us of our commonalities.
Take, for instance, Hurricane Helene. Though California is far from the storm’s devastation, its effects have rippled all the way to our coast due to the temporary closure of Baxter International’s North Carolina plant, which supplies 60% of the nation’s IV fluids. Hospitals across the country are working to ensure continued patient care despite a shortage of supplies critical to emergency care, trauma, oncology, surgery, and other lifesaving services.
Program originally recorded September 15 & 16, 2020
Virtual Session Recordings
To view a session recording click on the session title.
2024 Disaster Conference
This presentation explores the response of Hawaii Healthcare Emergency Management to the catastrophic Maui wildfire. The session outlines strategies and actions implemented to manage the crisis, including coordination efforts and resource deployment, highlighting the importance of preparedness and effective emergency management in mitigating the impact of natural disasters on health care systems.