Learn about the experiences of Dr. Josh Weil, Skip Skivington, and Mitch Saruwatari during and after the North Bay Fires. ASPR TRACIE interviewed these Kaiser staff members about their personal encounter with the wildfire and professional ordeal evacuating a hospital in the midst of one.
This presentation from Barton Health provides insights on response and business continuity plans in the event of a wildfire evacuation. Presenters share lessons learned from the full-scale evacuation of Barton Memorial Hospital and skilled-nursing facility in response to the Caldor Fire. The presentation reviews the logistical challenges of evacuating and repopulating a bi-state rural health care system, explore staffing and personnel challenges and considerations, and shares lessons learned.
2024 Disaster Conference
This presentation focuses on the dynamics of emergency preparedness under adverse conditions, where collaboration and communication faced unique challenges within an unfamiliar setting. Gain insights into the complexities of managing power outages while ensuring the safety and well-being of all those involved and obtain lessons learned for enhancing emergency preparedness response strategies.
AHRQ has released a model to help federal, state, and local emergency planners estimate the vehicles, drivers, road capacity and other resources they will need to evacuate patients and others from health care facilities in disaster areas.
2023 Disaster Conference – Best Practice Showcase
Shared by the Alameda County Emergency Services Agency, the California Patient Movement Surge Playbook Poster outlines a framework for managing complex patient transfers and hospital capacity challenges during catastrophic events. It identifies gaps in patient movement, coordination priorities, and best practices.
This guide is designed to help organize the initial assessment of a hospital upon return after an evacuation/closure due to an emergency event. The specific assessments are meant to be conducted by hospital staff to assess the level and locations of damage sustained by the hospital, and provide information that will be needed to create the full recovery plan. This guide will be particularly useful for assessing a hospital that has sustained significant or widespread damage.
EMSA/CDPH Collaboration The California Patient Movement Plan provides statewide guidance for large-scale patient movement and serves as framework for local planning efforts. Emergency Medical Services Authority (EMSA) and California Department of Public Health (CDPH) will conduct training and exercises based on the plan.
CHA developed the attached the Shelter-In-Place Planning Checklist, which includes a decision-making algorithm for shelter-in-place and evacuation activation and may be used to assist hospitals with developing, reviewing, or updating their plans. The checklist is intended to help hospitals ensure that elements listed have been addressed in their plans, policies, and procedures.
2022 Disaster Conference – Best Practice Showcase
The Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles shares their review of evacuation plans, and details the critical need for health care organizations to plan for addressing evacuation, educate hospital staff on response procedures, and practice protocols through drills and exercises. The process identifies gaps in processes and staff education and helps engage stakeholders to review the organization’s plan and pilot educational interventions.
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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.