To enhance response, hospitals must coordinate their mass fatality planning activities with county and regional planning efforts. Education, training, and exercises should be implemented to ensure that staff are familiar with the plan and that it is practical. Additionally, the hospital’s mass fatality plan must align with state and local regulations, the National Incident Management System, and The Joint Commission’s standards.
In the event of a catastrophic emergencies, hospital morgues can quickly become overwhelmed, requiring activation of internal mass fatality plans.
This Mass Fatality Management Plan Template aims to assist hospitals in the development of their mass fatality management plans. It provides a structured format outlining essential components and considerations for effectively responding to mass fatality incidents, ensuring that facilities are prepared to manage such emergencies in accordance with relevant regulations and best practices.
Developed by LA County EMS Agency, The Mass Fatality Management Guide for Healthcare Entities guidance for hospitals aims to assist in the effective management of mass fatality operations.
The Coroners’ Mutual Aid & Mass Fatality Management Planning Program is an integral component of the California Law Enforcement Mutual Aid System.
This collection of fatality management resources was compiled by the Greater New York Hospital Association and includes challenges, innovations, and lessons-learned from mass fatality incidents:
2020 Virtual Disaster Conference
Learn about the challenges faced by New York City hospitals in managing the unprecedented surge in fatalities. This session outlines how the the city’s mass fatality management plans were quickly overwhelmed, and reviews how hospital quickly adapted to increase mortuary space, redeploy staff, and work closely with the Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) to manage body collection points and long-term storage. The session also outlined the various logistical challenges faced by hospitals and emphasized the need for improved coordination, enhanced hospital preparedness, and updates to fatality management plans for future emergencies.
Military, federal and state agencies have worked with Mortuary Response Solutions (MRS) to employ a mass fatality management and storage solutions for mass fatality events. MRS has designed, engineered and tested the four types of refrigeration systems to support storage of human remains.
2016 Disaster Conference
This presentation outlines the similarities and differences in planned vs. emergency/disaster events and analyzes the different consideration for each in the context of disaster planning.
This toolkit outlines resources and models for meeting the challenges of health care organizations during disaster scenarios. These scenarios often overwhelm hospital resources, necessitating the development of preparedness and response strategies. The guide covers the importance of proactive planning, partnership-building among stakeholders, and development of scalable response plans in hospital disaster planning.