| Session Title: Evaluating Healthcare Facilities for Emergency Preparedness and Response |
| Multipaper Session 572 to be held in the Agate Room Section B on Friday, Nov 7, 10:55 AM to 11:40 AM |
| Sponsored by the Disaster and Emergency Management Evaluation TIG |
| Chair(s): |
| Debora Goetz Goldberg, Virginia Commonwealth University, goetzdc@vcu.edu |
| Abstract: This multi-paper session presents information on the evaluation of emergency preparedness and response of health care organizations at both an individual facility and national/regional level. Currently, most health care organizations don't participate in emergency preparedness evaluations. Accreditation agencies in health care are beginning to address a range of emergency management practices, however these agencies do not have a method to evaluate the overall level of preparedness at an organization level or at the national level. This multi-paper presentation focuses on the methodology for evaluation and critical aspects for review of health care organizations at both levels. These presentations will draw upon lessons learned from national evaluations and case studies of individual health care organizations. Due to the sensitive nature of the topic no organizational names or specific findings will be discussed. |
| Large Scale Evaluations of Emergency Management for Health Care Facilities |
| Debora Goetz Goldberg, Virginia Commonwealth University, goetzdc@vcu.edu |
| Sue Skidmore, DQE Inc, sskidmore@dqeready.com |
| All hazards preparedness is a critical task for all levels and types of health care facilities. All hazards preparedness includes responding to and minimizing the impact from natural disasters, and disasters caused by unexpected chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive events. This presentation reviews large scale evaluation approaches for reviewing the level of preparedness of healthcare facilities. Methodological aspects that will be discussed include: evaluation design, data collection through structured interviews and electronic/written questionnaires, and dissemination of results to improve preparedness efforts. Critical aspects that will be reviewed for an evaluation of emergency preparedness and response include: surveillance; communication and notification; staffing and support; education and training; patient capacity; isolation and decontamination; supplies, pharmaceuticals, and laboratory support; and administration and planning. Lessons learned are drawn from several national evaluation studies of public and private healthcare facilities. Due to the sensitive nature of the information, evaluation findings will not be presented. |
| Emergency Management Evaluation of Individual Health Care Organizations |
| Sue Skidmore, DQE Inc, sskidmore@dqeready.com |
| Debora Goetz Goldberg, Virginia Commonwealth University, goetzdc@vcu.edu |
| This presentation reviews a multi-pronged evaluation approach for emergency management at the individual health care organization level. The evaluation methodology that will be discussed involves documentation reviews of an organization's disaster planning, structured interviews with key staff, and on-site facility tours. The methodological approach focuses on reviewing the following critical areas: leadership philosophy, hazard and vulnerability analysis (HVA), incident command system; training and sustainability, preparedness exercises and drills, organizational participation with local/regional preparedness activities, emergency management plan, decontamination program, security issues, command center components, communication issues, and surge capacity. A case study will be presented as an example of the evaluation approach that incorporates evaluation of requirements under recent emergency preparedness policies for health care organizations. The presentation will give participants information to assess the level of emergency preparedness for various types of health care organizations. |