About

SCOPE OF SERVICES:

__________________ ‘s emergency management plan’s scope is to provide for a program that ensures effective mitigation, preparation, response and recovery to disasters or emergencies affecting the environment of care, and to assure continuation of care and/or services to the client population served.

OBJECTIVE:

The objective of the emergency management plan is to effectively prepare for, manage an emergency and restore the company to the same operational capabilities as pre-emergency levels.

DEFINITION:

• Emergency:  A natural or human-made event that:

• Significantly disrupt the environment of care, i.e., damage to the company’s building(s) and grounds due to severe winds, storms or earthquakes  
• Significantly disrupts services, treatment and/or care, i.e., loss of utilities (such as power, water or telephones) due to flood, civil disturbances, accidents or emergencies in the company or the community it serves  
• Results in sudden, significantly changed or increased demands for the company’s services, i.e., bioterrorist attack, building collapse or plane crash in the company’s community

GOALS:

• The goals of the emergency management plan includes the following:

• Identifying procedures to prepare for and respond to potential disasters or emergencies  
• Providing education to personnel on the elements of the emergency management program  
• Establishing and implementing procedures in response to an assortment of disasters and emergencies  
• Identifying alternate sources for supplies and services in the event of a disaster or emergency

RESPONSIBILITY:

The Safety Officer is responsible for developing, implementing and monitoring all aspects of the emergency management program, including hazard vulnerability analysis, mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery.

SPECIFIC PROCEDURES IN RESPONSE TO A VARIETY OF EMERGENCIES BASED ON A HAZARD VULNERABILITY ANALYSIS PERFORMED BY THIS COMPANY:

• __________________ has developed specific procedures in response to potential disasters and emergencies that may occur.  Additionally, the company will perform routine hazard vulnerability analyses to identify areas of vulnerability and undertake provisions to lessen the severity and/or impact of a disaster or emergency that could affect the services provided by this company.  (The samples included in this manual are intended to be used as a guideline for development of company-specific policies and procedures.)  
• In coordination with community emergency management planning (if available), __________________ will establish priorities of the potential emergencies identified in the hazard vulnerability analysis which will need to have mitigation, preparation, response and recovery activities undertaken and procedures will be developed.  
• List the potential disasters and emergencies that are specific to your location.

DEFINE AND INTEGRATE THE COMPANY’S ROLE WITH THE COMMUNITYWIDE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT EFFORTS TO PROMOTE INTER-OPERABILITY BETWEEN THE COMPANY AND THE COMMUNITY:

• Implementation of __________________’s emergency management plan will be conducted at least annually, either in response to an emergency or as a planned drill.  If applicable, __________________ will participate in at least one communitywide drill annually that is relevant to the priority of emergencies identified in the hazard vulnerability analysis.  
• __________________’s emergency management plan identifies who is in charge of specific activities and when they are to assume oversight responsibilities.  
• This company cooperates with all local, county and state emergency management drills.  The Safety Officer is a member of the countywide emergency management system and coordinates with other agencies for any large scale drills.  (Describe the level of cooperation that exists between the company and other disaster response agencies, i.e., fire department, police department, county disaster agencies in a specified geographic area.)

COMMAND STRUCTURE:

The command structure utilized by __________________ in coordination with the communitywide command structure is __________________.

COOPERATIVE PLANNING:

• __________________ participates in cooperative planning for emergencies with the following healthcare organizations in our geographic area.  (List all facilities/organizations that serve the immediate area with which cooperative planning has been established):

___________________________          ___________________________

___________________________          ___________________________

___________________________          ___________________________

• During the cooperative planning sessions with these organizations, the following issues are discussed and identified:

• Elements of each organization’s command structures and operations centers  
• List of names, responsibilities and phone numbers of individuals in each organization’s command structure  
• List of resources that can be pooled/shared for response to emergency situations  
• Mechanism to send information on clients and deceased individuals to cooperating organizations to help facilitate identification and location of victims of the emergency

INITIATING THE PLAN, INCLUDING DESCRIPTION OF PLAN ACTIVATION:

• The plan will be initiated when it has been determined that a disaster or emergency has occurred or has the potential for occurring.  
• When __________________ is notified of an emergency, the person receiving notification will immediately notify the Administrator or his/her designee, in the event of his/her absence, of the situation, whether it be an internal or external emergency.  The Administrator or his/her designee will evaluate the emergency to determine whether the emergency management plan will be activated, with the Safety Officer immediately notified of positive activation.  If the plan is to be activated, the Administrator or his/her designee will notify the staff of “Code __________________, Internal or External”.  
• The Safety Officer will notify __________________ of additional outside agencies that may need to assist the company in the event of an internal emergency, i.e., fire department (flood or gas leak).  
• The recovery phase will be initiated after a Damage Assessment has been conducted once the emergency is over.  The recovery phase of the plan will be initiated by the Safety Officer or his/her designee.

NOTIFICATION OF PERSONNEL WHEN EMERGENCY RESPONSE MEASURES ARE INITIATED:

In an emergency which is so wide-spread to be considered an emergency and/or involving mass casualties, all company personnel, regardless of position are expected to report to the company for duty as soon as it is feasible to travel.  __________________ maintains a current callback list of all employees.  The Safety Officer will initiate the callback list as necessary

IDENTIFICATION OF PERSONNEL IN EMERGENCIES:

Personnel on duty during activation of the emergency management plan will be identified by picture identification nametag which is to be worn at all times, by all staff while on duty.

MANAGEMENT OF CLIENTS DURING EMERGENCIES (I.E., MODIFICATION OR DISCONTINUATION OF SERVICES, AND CONTROL OF CLIENT INFORMATION):

• Active client demographic and clinical data is updated and kept available for review during an emergency event, on an ongoing basis.  
• Emergency management plan instructions given to the client/family/caregiver should be documented in the client’s medical record.  
• During an emergency event, supervisory staff will contact active clients to evaluate and assist with the client’s arrangements concerning evacuation plans, if any.  Clients are reminded at this time that __________________ staff do not make home visits during a time of acute disaster and are instructed in arrangements provided by the county disaster team.  Clients living in trailers or mobile homes are advised to leave for the nearest shelter.  
• Supervisors/Department Heads and the Human Resources Director will prepare hard copy lists of active clients and employees.  One copy of each list is distributed to the Administrator, Department Heads and Supervisors.

STAFF ACTIVITIES AND SUPPORT:

• The company will provide for staff support activities in the event of an emergency, which include, but may not be limited to:

• Housing/lodging needs  
• Transportation needs  
• Family support needs, as necessary  
• Incident stress debriefing and counseling

CONTINUING AND/OR RE-ESTABLISHING OPERATIONS FOLLOWING AN EMERGENCY:

• __________________ has mechanisms in place to restore the operational capabilities of the company to pre-emergency levels.

• Personnel are to report to __________________ by telephone or in person as soon as possible after the acute emergency has passed.  
• The Administrator and/or Operations Manager or designee other shall verify staff reporting in against the Active Employee List.  
• As staff becomes available, the Administrator and/or the Operations Manager or designee will assign staff to begin the assessment of client circumstances.  
• Services, treatment and/or care will not resume until the appropriate authorities have announced that it is safe to resume normal business activities.  
• The Administrator will report any individuals not accounted for within 48 hours to the appropriate authorities.

BACKUP COMMUNICATION SYSTEM:

__________________ will provide for alternate communication methods in the event of a failure.  Two-way radio equipment and cell phones shall be available in the event of an emergency.

ORIENTATION AND EDUCATION PROGRAM FOR THOSE WHO PARTICIPATE IN IMPLEMENTING THE PLAN:

Personnel will attend orientation upon hire and an annual update of their specific roles and responsibilities and the skills they require to perform their duties during an emergency.  Inservice education will be given on the backup communication system and obtaining supplies/equipment in the event of an emergency.  The Safety Officer is responsible for inservicing personnel at the companywide emergency management program.

ANNUAL EVALUATION OF THE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PLAN’S OBJECTIVES, SCOPE, PERFORMANCE AND EFFECTIVENESS:

• The annual evaluation of the emergency management program will include a review of the scope according to the current JCAHO standards to evaluate the degree in which the program meets accreditation standards and the current risk assessment of the company.  A comparison of the expectations and actual results of the program will be evaluated to determine if the goals and objectives of the program were met.  
• The performance and effectiveness of the emergency management program shall be reviewed by the Safety Committee, Administration and the governing body/legal authority and changes implemented if necessary.