Hospitals and other healthcare facilities are vital in providing critical medical care to communities, especially in emergencies. However, these occurrences are, by the very definition, unpredictable. Consequently, their sudden arrival can overwhelm even the best hospitals if the organization isn’t ready to manage them.
Emergencies can occur at any time. While they impact several organizations, healthcare facilities usually take the heaviest brunt. So, whether they strike in the form of an earthquake, accident, or terrorism—health and hospital systems are almost always on the frontline. Depending on the extent and nature of these calamities, any hospital’s operational capacity and safety can get severely compromised. This is primarily because many individuals are already seeking medical attention within these settings, and an additional influx of mass casualties can overwhelm the system.
Therefore, it’s critical for hospitals to prepare for emergencies by devising a strategy that caters to existing patients, the staff, and disaster victims. Unfortunately, there is no cookie-cut plan that can work out for every organization. But following these six tips can help you prepare for any worst-case scenarios that may end up in your hospital.
- Write down a detailed emergency plan
The kind of disaster you expect may vary among hospitals depending on geographical regions, urban or rural settlements, and community health. It’s wise to undertake a risk assessment and identify all potential hazards in your hospital’s vicinity. Doing so allows the management to design an emergency operations plan best suited to meet your community’s needs. This plan should provide immediate and effective healthcare to the maximum number of people to minimize morbidity and mortality rates.
Additionally, you must outline detailed instructions and protocols in a written document you can refer to whenever the situation calls for it. It may be helpful to divide your emergency strategy into three parts:
- Pre-disaster phase
This phase includes all the planning and assessment needed to formulate a functional approach. The hospital must obtain all relevant approvals and documents at this stage.
- Disaster phase
In this section, you must highlight the chain of command which will have the authority to activate the emergency plan and everyone working under it. This phase will also detail the procedures and protocols hospitals must follow according to the pertinent crisis.
- Post-disaster phase
The post-disaster phase holds crucial importance as it takes notes of any inadequacies or system failures during a disaster for future improvements.
- Strengthen communication
Communication inside and outside the hospital becomes a major complication during most emergencies. And since staying in constant contact is crucial to providing efficient medical care, establishing accident-proof communication systems is essential. It may help to develop codes and short messages that can be sent and received by healthcare workers who can then provide quick treatment. Planning multiple means of contact can be most helpful so that even if one fails, the backups can permit information sharing promptly. Some available and reliable communication networks include:
- landline phones
- two-way radio
- public address system
- intercoms
- cellular phones
In the emergency plan document, listing all emergency contacts like hospital staff, the police department, paramedics, and nearby hospitals can also prove beneficial.
- Training of medical and non-medical staff
Regardless of how much you plan and prepare for an emergency,it’s worthless if your personnel doesn’t understand what to do when facing a real-life crisis. Since every staff member will have a designated duty, they must be aware of them and have practical experience handling them. Besides providing theoretical knowledge, organize drills and practice sessions to equip them with the necessary skills. The shortcomings of most plans remain unrecognized until it’s time for their actual demonstration. But in an emergency, you can’t afford to have any failings. Therefore, to minimize risk, enacting emergency scenarios can offer the ultimate form of training.
You must also remember that hospital staff consists of both medical and non-medical personnel. And so, knowing how and what kind of training to provide each group is the only way to manage a future emergency.
- Improve safety and security measures
When an emergency arises, hospitals become the central focus for several kinds of people. These include the patients or victims, their attendants or relatives, media, and sometimes even bystanders. This crowd risks blocking entrances or cramming up hallway spaces needed to maneuver stretchers and hospital beds. It may interfere with the smooth functioning of healthcare facilities and, as a result, delay treatment and cause casualties.
To avoid this, hospitals must improve their safety and security measures to allow only essential people entrance within the facility. Work with law enforcement to maintain order within and outside the premises and ensure no one breaks protocols. Providing your hospital staff with identity cards that give them access to sensitive areas can also reduce traffic. Implementing these strategies even during non-emergency situations can help provide patients with quicker services.
- Prepare for transportation
Transportation is another essential factor you must consider when planning for an emergency. In case of a disaster or accident, paramedics must carry patients from the incident site to your hospital as quickly as possible. Assigning vehicles and training the staff for each area within your district can minimize transportation time and hasten the recovery process. All ambulances, automobiles, and other transport systems must have emergency medical supplies and tools required to transfer patients. If your hospital starts getting overwhelmed with patients during a crisis, a transportation network must be available totake patients to the nearest facility safely.
The drivers and other personnel in the transportation sector must also have a proper communication channel. This allows them to navigate through traffic and pass on critical patient information to healthcare workers during an emergency.
- Effective human resource management
A hospital’s human resourcedepartment is responsible for hiring, firing, and training all technical and non-technical staff in the facility. While their duties are crucial during any given day, it becomes even more critical in an emergency. The HR management must recruit and train additional staff who can provide their services at a short-term notice, according to the probable need. These may include volunteers, students, or retired hospital staff willing to work in emergencies. Since assessing and training new employees during a catastrophe isn’t very efficient, your HR must prepare a list of potential workers beforehand.
Conclusion
Preparing for and managing an emergency in hospitals is a continuous process. It requires meticulous planning, inter— and intra-department collaborations, and seamless system integrations. While the tips we outline here are generic, you can customize them to suit a broad range of contingencies and risks. But the primary objective remains relentless—provide immediate medical care and attention to as many patients as possible and as efficiently as possible.