1. Are You Prepared
Attacks on urban centers and infrastructures world wide occur regularly and are now a way of life. As a member of the hospital's healthcare team, you are on the front line of America’s new Civil Defense. Your community is counting on you to be prepared for a chemical, biological or nuclear attack.
The Joint Commission has required disaster planning for more than 30 years. Its standards provide a framework for comprehensive emergency management. The standards require organizations to identify the potential emergencies that could affect them, and develop a plan that addresses the four phases of emergency management activities: mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. Emergency management plans must also address command structures, backup communications systems, building evacuations, and coordination with other community health care organizations and emergency responders. These modifications call for accredited organizations to take an "all hazards" approach to disaster planning-using a chain of command to address all hazards that are determined to be credible threats to the community. These standards represent an important evolution in the concept of managing emergencies. Health care organizations are now expected to address these specific phases of disaster planning as well as to participate annually in at least one community wide practice drill.
Joint Commission's publications:
2. Let the Government Help