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.
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.
The Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP)is a capabilities and performance-based exercise program which provides a standardized policy, methodology, and terminology for exercise design, development, conduct, evaluation, and improvement planning.
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.
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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.
Kaiser Permanente and Sutter Health presenters share how their organizations responded to wildfires that caused their hospitals to evacuate in October 2017. The session details operational impacts as well as recovery efforts taken by both health systems to restore hospital services to the community. Presenters shared lessons learned from these events and highlight opportunities for improved performance.
This instructive video from the US Department of Homeland Security demonstrates possible actions to take if confronted with an active shooter scenario. The video reviews the choices of evacuating, hiding, or, as an option of last resort, challenging the shooter. The video also shows how to assist authorities once law enforcement enters the scene.
There are nearly 400 Joint Commission-accredited hospitals/critical access hospitals in California. This presentation provides information about:
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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.