Hospitals must be prepared to respond to public health emergencies that may create a sudden demand on services. Disaster drills allow hospitals to test response capabilities to these emergencies in real time.
No. A stand alone HICS course does not take the place of ICS 100, 200 and 700, which are specific requirements of the NIMS Objectives.
There are different requirements for the various accrediting bodies and grant requirements. For example, the Hospital Preparedness Program grant may require participation in the Annual Statewide Medical Health Exercise.
The Chemical Hazards Emergency Medical Management website offers a comprehensive, user-friendly, web-based resource that is also downloadable in advance, so that it would be available during an event if the internet is not accessible.
This tool is designed to address these challenges by providing a curriculum that can be used to train hospital personnel on how to prepare for and respond to the psychological consequences of large-scale disasters. The training has three modules that are intended to be used either as standalone training or in combination depending on the facility and audience needs:
The IS-800 course is available through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s website. The course introduces participants to the concepts and principles of the National Response Framework.
Consistent with the blanket waiver request submitted by the American Hospital Association (AHA), the Federal Communication Commission has adopted an order that permits the use of HAM radios during hospital disaster drills.
NIMS courses ICS-100, ICS-200 and IS-700 or their equivalents should be completed by:
Yes, a hospital may utilize a vendor-created or delivered training course. The National Integration Center (NIC) recognizes that many operational aspects of the NIMS, including ICS training, are available through, state, local and tribal training agencies and private training vendors. It is not necessary that the training requirements be met through a federal source.
According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the NIMS Integration Center is responsible for facilitating the development of national guidelines for incident management training and exercises at all jurisdictional levels, while individual agencies and organizations are responsible for establishing and certifying instructors.