About Emergency Preparedness
It’s time to change the way California thinks about disaster response. The COVID-19 pandemic showed that hospitals can quickly mobilize to provide flexible approaches to patient care during a disaster. The state must draw upon these lessons to prepare differently so the next crisis will be less severe. Given California’s size and complexity, the health care disaster response system of the future must be nimble enough to respond to any catastrophe. View more information on hospital disaster preparedness.
Mass Fatality Planning: Overview
In the event of a catastrophic emergencies, hospital morgues can quickly become overwhelmed, requiring activation of internal mass fatality plans.
Emergency Water Supply: Planning Guide for Hospitals and Health Care Facilities
To maintain daily operations and patient care services, health care facilities need to develop an Emergency Water Supply Plan (EWSP) to prepare for, respond to, and recover from a total or partial interruption of the facilities’ normal water supply.
Toolkit: Hospital Water Disruption
The Guidelines for Developing Best Practices to Assist California Hospitals in Preparing for and Responding to a Water Disruption toolkit may be used for hospital water disruption planning activities.
Utility Failures in Health Care Toolkit
Developed by ASPR TRACIE, this toolkit was developed to assist health care facility managers and emergency planners to identify issues and considerations when planning for and responding to various types of utility failures.
PG&E: Utility Response During Emergency Events
2023 Disaster Conference
Learn about PG&E’s overall Incident Command Structure (ICS) during event activations, the power outage restoration process, and real-life examples of emergency events that impacted hospitals. session included an overview of the process to coordinate response safely and efficiently to an emergency event affecting gas or electrical system from planning, activation, assessment, restoration, and deactivation.
How Coalitions Safeguard Patients in Power Outages
2023 Disaster Conference
California forced hospitals to rely on emergency power by initiating Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) to minimize the risk of wildfires triggered by power lines. Hospital generator failures led the LA County Healthcare Coalition to launch an initiative to identify emergency power vulnerabilities and develop innovative solutions to close gaps. This initiative culminated with the publication of the Healthcare Facility Emergency Power Resilience Playbook to bolster hospital emergency power resilience in their jurisdictions.
HICS Templates for COVID Incident Action Planning
These templates are intended to serve as samples for those new to HICS. Hospitals can use these templates to support their response framework, ensuring that teams are aligned in their patient care approach, resource allocation, and communications.
Measles Infection Control Recommendations for Health Care Workers
This resource serves as an educational resource for health care providers, encouraging proactive measures to protect against measles by raising awareness, focusing on its symptoms, transmission, and the importance of vaccination. It highlights key facts about the disease, including how it spreads, its potential complications, and the critical role of the measles vaccine in preventing outbreaks.
Alternative Diagnostic Techniques During Measles Outbreaks
This resource serves as an educational resource for health care providers, encouraging proactive measures to protect against measles by raising awareness, focusing on its symptoms, transmission, and the importance of vaccination. It highlights key facts about the disease, including how it spreads, its potential complications, and the critical role of the measles vaccine in preventing outbreaks.
Guidelines for Pertussis Control in Health Care Settings
Guidelines for Pertussis Control provides comprehensive recommendations for the prevention and management of pertussis (whooping cough) in health care settings. It emphasizes the importance of vaccination, particularly in vulnerable populations such as infants and pregnant women. The document outlines strategies for outbreak management, including case identification, reporting, and contact tracing. Additionally, it discusses treatment options and the role of health care providers in educating patients about the disease. The guidelines aim to enhance public health response and reduce the incidence of pertussis through coordinated efforts across health care settings.