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Survey monitor: Focus on everyday concerns such as infant abduction

Healthcare Security Weekly, January 5, 2004

Survey monitor: Focus on everyday concerns such as infant abduction. Don't be overly worried about the bioterrorism aspects of your emergency preparedness plan.

Surveyors from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) want to check your bioterrorism plans, but will also look at other plans, including infant and pediatric abduction responses, says Steven MacArthur, a former hospital safety officer who is now a consultant with The Greeley Company in Marblehead, MA. He assisted South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, MA, in preparations for a visit from the JCAHO last September.

Be realistic about the actual risks that apply to your facility, MacArthur says. Consider what you need to do to prepare for a bioterror response, but not at the expense of higher-risk events.

The 300-bed hospital was well-prepared for the survey. Administration showed its support for the security department by providing enough funding to form its own security force, provide cameras and card access readers, and fully staff a security command center. The environment of care committee handles most emergency management tasks.

The hospital scored well, but received a supplemental Type I recommendation due to a disparity in the air pressure in the hospitals dining room.

The air pressure was negative to that of the rest of the hospital, so there was concern about the flow of smoke during a fire, MacArthur says. The hospital immediately dealt with the situation by altering the fire plan to have the doors monitored during drills or in the event of a fire.

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