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Shared by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), this tool addresses the special medical needs of children, and emphasizes how health care facilities must be prepared for both pediatric and adult victims of bio-terrorism attacks, including those resulting from dispersal of airborne or food borne agents.
The Joint Commission requires all hospitals to have disaster plans in place, however the formulation of hospital guidelines specific to pediatrics is often overlooked.
In disaster events, resources for treating pediatric victims may be limited, and staff inexperienced with treating pediatric critical injuries and illnesses will result in an inadequate surge capacity. As part of preparedness, each facility should predetermine their ability to handle pediatric victims and develop a plan to be able to increase this capacity based on a pediatric surge.
Following the Loma Prieta earthquake, patients’ access to care was severely impacted by temporary closure of several dialysis facilities. These closures demonstrated an obvious need for additional disaster preparedness for dialysis facilities.
Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center, along with CalOES, presented this toolkit sharing techniques and resources for integrating Access and Functional Needs (AFNs) into hospital disaster planning.
Hospitals and health care facilities operating dialysis or opioid treatment programs can learn about emergency preparedness to assist before, during, and after a critical event.
In 2008, California established the Office of Access and Functional Needs (OAFN) within the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. This collection of CalOES online resources identify the needs of individuals with disabilities and others with access or functional needs before, during, and after disasters and to integrate them into the State’s emergency management systems.
Shared by Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center, this reference aims to assist hospital emergency managers prepare, plan and conduct exercises and training with local Access and Functional Needs (AFN) communities. Funded through a grant from the California Community Foundation, the tool was developed for use by emergency management professionals in the health care industry.
Chemical emergencies can happen at any time at health care facilities. The impact may not only be to the facility, but to patients, staff, and the surrounding community. To assist hospitals, ASPR/TRACIE has developed a “Chemical Emergency Considerations for Health Care Facilities” resource to assist in preparing and responding to chemical emergencies.
2022 Disaster Conference
The growing population of older adults in the United States with complex medical conditions are typically the most severely impacted by large-scale weather and climate disasters. A health care systems’ ability to leverage technology and optimize limited resources during an emergency is universal. Join us to learn how the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) established the Vulnerable Patient Care, Access, and Response in Emergencies (VP CARE) Program to provide standardized data tools and guidance to assist medical facilities with conducting outreach and care coordination to vulnerable Veteran populations during major emergencies