Effective emergency management requires planning, cooperation, training and exercising with the entire community. Collaboration should start at the planning phase and continue throughout the entire Emergency Management Program development and implementation.
This checklist provides guidance on developing or updating hospital evacuation plans, including detailed information, instructions, and procedures that can be engaged in any emergency situation necessitating either full or partial hospital evacuation, or sheltering in place.
Developed and shared by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, these clinical checklists, guides, and just-in-time references to manage a surge of pediatric patients.
Kaiser Permanente has developed a Hazard Vulnerability Analysis tool and instruction sheet. This resource is available as a planning tool only; if sharing publicly, please credit Kaiser Permanente. This tool is not intended for commercial use.
Find resources that can help hospitals and other healthcare facilities plan for active shooter incidents, including checklists, plans, guidelines, educational videos, and other materials
2023 Disaster Conference – Best Practice Showcase
The document describes policies implemented by Pomona Valley Hospital and standardizes responses for large-scale emergencies that could overwhelm hospital resources. The program includes quarterly and annual training, focusing on rapid setup and resource allocation, with ongoing physician engagement and family reunification plans. The hospital has seen substantial improvements in activation time for emergencies, reducing setup time from over 45 minutes to just 15.
All skilled-nursing and nursing facilities are required by federal regulations to “have detailed written plans and procedures to meet all potential emergencies and disasters, such as fire, severe weather, and missing residents.” California’s Health and Safety Code and California’s Code of Regulations – Title 22, (T22) specify the “details” that are required in the facility emergency plan. To help facilities prepare for the external disaster plan review during the annual survey process, the Department of Homeland Security has developed an optional self-assessment tool.
CHEMM-IST is a prototype decision support tool developed by experts in medicine and emergency response as an aid for identifying the chemical a patient was exposed to in a mass casualty incident. Toxic syndromes or toxidromes are easily identified with only a few observations.
Developed by the Harvard School of Public Health, this self-assessment tool provides hospitals with a means of evaluating decontamination plans and capabilities against current regulatory standards, recommendations from subject matter experts, and national and international health care decontamination best practices.
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.