Patients at Ridgecrest Regional Hospital and Bella Sera Skilled Nursing Facility are safe, and both facilities are fully operating except for minor repairs after a 7.1 magnitude earthquake on July 5 and a 6.4 magnitude tremor the day before, both centered near Ridgecrest. After the first quake on July 4, the critical access hospital’s patients were evacuated, but the Emergency Department continued to triage incoming patients, directing them to other facilities as needed. Following the even larger earthquake on July 5, Bella Sera Skilled Nursing Facility lost power and worked with local, regional and state partners to prepare for evacuation, which ultimately wasn’t necessary.
California may experience any number of disasters in the coming years — from fires to flooding, and more. The agenda for this year’s Disaster Planning for California Hospitals Conference, to be held Sept. 10-11 in Pasadena, reflects the diverse skill sets required of our responders. Covering topics such as lessons learned from active shooter events, integrating business continuity and emergency preparedness, creating resiliency across the continuum of care, and earthquake early warning systems, the event is not to be missed.
The California Department of Public Health’s Licensing and Certification Program has issued a reminder to health care facilities that, as the hot summer weather begins, they should have contingency plans in place to deal with the potential loss of air conditioning; ensure patients and residents are free of adverse conditions that may cause heat-related complications; and report extreme heat conditions that compromise patient health or require evacuation, transfer, or discharge of patients. More information and guidance are available in All Facilities Letter 19-21.
As previously reported in CHA News, extreme weather and wildfire threats may result in public safety power shutoffs by PG&E. To prepare for these power outages, hospitals can take part in PG&E’s Wildfire Safety webinar for hospitals, scheduled for June 7 from 9-10 a.m. (PT).
Given the continued and growing threat of extreme weather, and as an additional precautionary measure following the 2017 and 2018 wildfires, PG&E is enhancing and expanding its Community Wildfire Safety Program to further reduce wildfire risks and help keep customers and communities safe.
Wildfires. Mudslides. Floods. Mass shootings. These once rare or infrequent events have become regular occurrences, and no two disasters are ever the same. Now more than ever, hospitals must reevaluate our procedures and redefine preparation.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has released a series of resources intended to help providers incorporate, in their disaster planning, strategies to care for patients with serious mental illness.
The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed legislation (H.R. 269) that includes the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act. The measure reauthorized the Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP) at an increased amount, including reserving a percentage of HPP funds for the purpose of developing regional health care emergency preparedness and response systems. CHA supports the measure and is hopeful that the Senate will act soon.
