Safety

How small hospitals can help your emergency plan

Emergency Management Alert, April 19, 2004

Emergency drills can make the biggest difference in a small or rural hospital's disaster preparation. After the September 11 attacks, St. Luke's Hospital, a 331-bed facility in New Bedford, MA, began conducting emergency drills a few times a year.

When a nearby Rhode Island nightclub fire took almost 100 lives in February 2003, St. Luke's depended on those drills to make a difference. The experience gleaned from the drills helped the hospital handle the fire victims and proved it was prepared for terrorism, says Joyce Brennan, media coordinator for St. Luke's. "We have chemical plants in our area, so we already had the need for this kind of plan due to the possibility of chemical accidents," Brennan says, adding that the incident highlighted the importance of being prepared.

To learn more about small hospital's role in emergency planning, visit
http://www.hcpro.com/content/38695.cfm?s=EEMA

The cost is $10. Subscribers to Healthcare Security and Emergency
Management received this article free through their online account.

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