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JCAHO, AHRQ: ED, community integration lacking

Emergency Management Alert, July 18, 2006

JCAHO, AHRQ:
EM, community integration lacking

Acute care hospitals and other entities need to use drills and exercises that "more truly simulate the stresses created by emergency conditions," says a new study from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO). The study was supported in part by a grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

A report in the June 6 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine said that the study, "Integrating Hospitals into Community Emergency Preparedness Planning," is the first large-scale national assessment of how closely hospitals and their communities are collaborating and planning together for disasters. The study says that, while most hospitals are involved in community-wide drills, are able to analyze threats and vulnerabilities with community first responders, and are in communities which have plans for mobilizing necessary supplies, equipment, and facilities required in an emergency, they're not fully prepared.

To help achieve full preparation, the links between the hospital and community-wide networks must be strong, says JCAHO; neither entity "can afford to work independently in the face of major emergencies," says Jerod M. Loeb, PhD., executive vice president for JCAHO's division of research. "A coordinated approach is the only way to adequately serve those individuals who are victims of a disaster."

Read more here.

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