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Tip of the week: Look at how long your facility can survive a disaster

Healthcare Security Weekly, January 14, 2008

Effective January 1, the Joint Commission (formerly JCAHO) has put in place some new emergency management standards.

One of the biggest new provisions is for hospitals to determine whether they could survive on their own without community support for up to 96 hours during a disaster (see EC.4.12, Element of Performance (EP) #6). This EP, which comes in the wake of Hurricane Katrina's lessons, has gotten the attention of many healthcare facilities. The standard mandates that hospitals understand how well their resources, assets, and utility systems could endure the 96-hour window.

If hospitals can't make it 96 hours on their own, EP #6 states that those sites should develop alternate plans, including full-blown evacuations that could occur within 96 hours.

For more about standard changes, go to www.hcpro.com/ppv-202062.html. The cost is $10. Briefings on Hospital Safety subscribers received this story with their subscriptions.

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