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Web site spotlight: Natural disaster provides test for emergency plan

Nurse Leader Weekly, September 15, 2008

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The Joint Commission's surveyors may be tough, but they're nothing compared with a natural disaster.

So learned Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans. When Joint Commission surveyors reviewed Ochsner's emergency plan in July 2005, they found it lacking and gave the facility a requirement for improvement (RFI). One month later, in August 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit, and that same plan was tested.

Ochsner managed to remain open during one of the nation's worst disasters when other facilities in the area were forced to shut their doors. The lessons the staff members learned can be a valuable resource for your own facility's emergency preparedness.

Developing your plan

The first step in developing your emergency plan is performing a risk assessment to find out where your vulnerabilities lie. Determine what types of disasters are likely to affect your area, says Peggy Luebbert, MS, MT (ASCP), CIC, CHSP, an independent consultant and owner of Healthcare Interventions, Inc., in Omaha, NE.

For example, whereas the assessment at Ochsner identified a hurricane as one of the potential disasters in its area, Luebbert's region would focus on tornadoes.

Look at potential disaster scenarios for your hospital, identify the associated IC risks, and develop your response plan accordingly, Luebbert says.

Editor's note: This excerpt was adapted from the article, "Crisis management starts at home but doesn't end there" featured in The Reading Room on HCPro's new online resource center, www.StrategiesforNurseManagers.com. Get a free trial membership that will give you 30 days to test drive all the exciting features on the Web site.

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