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Hospital Readiness

This free computer-based model helps plan large-scale antibiotic dispensing or vaccination campaigns in the event of bioterrorism or natural disease outbreaks.

IOM's report "Guidance for Establishing Crisis Standards of Care for Use in Disaster Situations: A Letter Report." The report directly builds on the series of regional meetings that the Forum organized in the spring of 2009.
Pacer Center of Excellence for the Study of Preparedness and Catastrophic Event Response (PACER) - Model Memorandum of Understanding Between Hospitals during Declared Emergencies
"Children in Disasters: Hospital Guidelines for Pediatric Preparedness" NYC Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene. August 2008 (3rd edition) Beginning in September 2004 through 2006, HEPP began an intensive effort to assist hospitals to prepare for pediatric victims and their families during disasters by creating a working group to address this important area.
Pediatric Disaster Hospital Tabletop Toolkit and Powerpoint(r) set. This pediatric tabletop exercise emphasizes the importance of using a multidisciplinary approach to respond to a pediatric disaster and contains exercises designed to encourage the free and open exchange of ideas in a low-stress environment.
New AHRQ Tool helps hospitals evaluate Disaster Drills. Ensuring that hospitals are prepared to respond appropriately during any type of disaster situation – manmade or natural – is a priority for HHS. Beginning in September, hospitals participating in the Hospital Preparedness Program, administered through HHS, will be required to provide executive summaries of the results of disaster drills they conduct. August 2008
Mass Fatality Incident Management: Guidance for Hospitals and Other Healthcare Entities. LA County. August 2008
Is Your Community Prepared for Hurricane Season? A new page is available on the Agency for Healthcare Reaserch and Quality Web site to help community and emergency planners prepare for hurricanes and other natural disasters.

JCAHO Hospital Emergency Management standards these will become effective January 2008.
CDC guide from their National Center for Injury Prevention and Control called, In a Moment's Notice: Surge Capacity for Terrorist Bombings; Challenges and Propsed Solutions. April 2007
AHRQ's Mass Casualty Event (MCE) planning guide, An interesting and helpful guide relating to providing
mass medical care in situations involving scarce resources. November 2006
LiveProcess
This software enables hospitals to securely share information over the Internet to prepare for and respond to a disaster. Related Story: Georgia to launch online hospital preparedness system
AHRQ: Bioterrorism and Other Public Health Emergencies Tools: Decontamination of Children, Preparedness and Response for Hospital Emergency Departments, December 07, 2005
JCAHO: Surge Hospitals: Providing Safe Care in Emergencies, December 2005
Ready or Not: Protecting the Public's Health from Disease, Disasters and Bioterrorism, December 6, 2005
Resources are made available by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Press Release: Pennsylvania Improving Public Safety with New Bioterrorism Technology, December 7, 2005
Pennsylvania Department of Health
Economic Cost to Hospitals from an Avian Flu Pandemic Likely to Be Huge, SLU Professor Says, November 17, 2005
Saint Louis University
CDC: Bioterrorism and mass casualty preparedness in hospitals, United States 2003. September 2005
Standing Together: An Emergency Planning Guide for America’s Communities
JCAHO Pre-Publication Version, September, 2005
Report: Requirements for Reopening a Shuttered Hospital in an Emergency and Suggestions for Meeting These Requirements, September 2, 2005
Preparing for a Terrorist Bombing: A Common Sense Approach, July 19, 2005
Fact Sheet by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Automated Exercise & Assessment System
AEAS is a simulation-based system that allows emergency responders to exercise and train as a team for events involving Weapons of Mass Destruction.
AHRQ Announces New Triage Tools for Hospital Emergency Departments, May 2005
AHRQ: New Bioterrorism and Emergency Preparedness White Paper Available, May 2005
AHRQ: Altered Standards of Care in Mass Casualty Events, April 2005
Presentations From the CDC Public Health Preparedness Conference 2005, April 25,2005
View presentations given at the 2005 conference for each concurrent or plenary session.
New Tools Help Hospitals Handle Terror Attacks And Other Disasters, April 14, 2005
InformationWeek
An Evaluation of Hospital Radiation Detectors for Use in Screening Potentially Contaminated Individuals, March 2005
Report by S. Cohen & Associates for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Bioterrorism and Other Public Health Emergencies: Linkages with Community Providers, January 2005
AHRQ Bioterrorism and Health System Preparedness, Issue Brief No. 6
Pandemic Flu Resources Breathing Easier? The Report of the Century Foundation Working Group on Bioterrorism Preparedness (1/13/2005)
National Defense University: Hometown Hospitals: The Weakest Link? Bioterrorism Readiness in America's Rural Hospitals (June 2004) The report describes a view of the challenges facing rural hospitals as they prepare for the threat of bioterrorism as well as non-intentional, naturally occurring epidemics of emerging contagious diseases. The report demonstrates the perception among rural hospitals that major medical emergencies in America's rural areas and heartland would quickly overwhelm the capabilities of their small hospitals.
AHRQ: New Tool Helps Hospitals Evaluate Disaster Training Drills (May 2004)
HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has released a free tool to help hospitals evaluate their disaster training drills. Developed by the Evidence-based Practice Center at Johns Hopkins University, the tool helps hospitals identify their strengths and weaknesses during a disaster drill and improve their ability to meet required emergency management plans. Areas assessed include pre-drill planning, incident command, decontamination, triage and treatment. The tool also includes checklists to help hospitals tailor drills to specific health threats, such as a biological or radiation incidents, and a spreadsheet to track and compare drill performance among hospital units or hospitals. The resource, "Evaluation of Hospital Disaster Drills: A Module-Based Approach," is available from the agency as a notebook with accompanying CD-ROM by calling (800) 358-9295 and referencing AHRQ Publication No. 04-0032.
DHS Bulletin "Potential Indicators of Threats Involving Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Devices" (May 15, 2003)
Health Care at the Crossroads: Strategies for Creating and Sustaining Community-wide Emergency Preparedness Systems (March 2003)
Medical-Surgical Supply Formulary by Disaster Scenario (March 2003)
By the Association for Healthcare Resource & Materials Management, the Health Industry Distributors Association, and the Health Industry Group Purchasing Association
This cooperative project that provides a blueprint for planning and coordinating medical and surgical supplies for hospitals in the case of a large-scale chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive (CBRNE) or natural disaster. The supply formularies was created based on information from multiple hospitals and health care systems. The formularies are intended as benchmarks for supply preparedness and can be customized to fit the needs of each hospital and community by working with internal staff and suppliers. The formularies focus on adult and pediatric patient needs and provide a targeted supply list for each of the CBRNE events. The formularies do not cover radiology or pharmacy.
AABB Disaster Operations Handbook-Hospital Supplement Coordinating the Nation's Blood Supply during Disasters and Biological Events (February 2003)
By the American Association of Blood Banks Interorganizational Task Force on Domestic Disasters and Acts of Terrorism: The AABB developed this Operations Handbook is to assist blood centers, hospital blood banks, and transfusion services in preparing for and responding to future domestic disasters and acts of terrorism affecting the blood supply. This Hospital Supplement addresses the hospital role in ensuring that blood for transfusion will be available.
- AABB Disaster Response Site
- Overview of Response Plan
Proceedings for the National Symposium on Hospital Disaster Readiness
(October 2002) by AHA Section for Metropolitan Hospitals
These proceedings include summaries and other information that was shared at the February 15, 2002 National Symposium on Hospital Disaster Readiness. Over 70 metropolitan hospital executives heard how hospitals near Ground Zero and the Pentagon responded to the immediate tragedies, as well as strategies related to ongoing readiness preparations in the event of future biological, and chemical, and natural disasters.
JCAHO Guide to Emergency Management Planning in Health Care
New comprehensive guide to emergency management planning gives health care systems advice on designing, revising and implementing an emergency management plan.
Rand Report: Protecting Emergency Responders: Lessons Learned Terrorist Attacks (March 21, 2002)
By Brian Jackson, D.J. Peterson, James Bartis, Tom LaTourrette, Irene Brahmakulam, Ari Houser, Jerry Sollinger
This report presents a summary of a December 2001 working conference, sponsored by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Attending were emergency workers who responded to the bombing of the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City, the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the anthrax incidents that occurred during autumn 2001. The report addresses the equipment, training and information required to protect emergency responders as they meet the challenge of protecting their communities. Click here to get information on ordering a paperback copy.
ECRI Advisory: Selecting Personal Protective Equipment for Chemical and Bioterrorism Preparedness: Risks and Costs (March 2002)
Model Hospital Mutual Aid Memorandum of Understanding (March 2002)
Metropolitan Area Hospital Compact (March 2002)
This agreement was signed by 22 hospitals in the Twin Cities area and serves as a model compact for other metropolitan or regional disaster readiness agreement. Special thanks to Dr. John Hick, Emergency Department, Hennepin County Medical Center, Minneapolis, for his work in creating and getting this compact signed. Please not that hospitals are advised to seek legal counsel review of this document.
Hazard Vulnerability Analysis Tool
By Susan McLaughlin, SBM Consulting, Ltd
Effective January 1, 2001, JCAHO requires that a hospital's emergency management plan provides a process for identifying specific procedures in response to a variety of disasters based on a hazard vulnerability analysis performed by the hospital.
Chemical and Bioterrorism Preparedness Checklist
By the American Hospital Association (October 3, 2001)
This checklist is provided to hospitals to help them describe and assess their present state of preparedness for chemical and biological incidents. AHA is grateful to Dr. David Mangelsdorff at the US Army-Baylor Graduate Program in Healthcare Administration and to two of his students, Gina Savini and Dean Doering, who developed the original survey from which this checklist is adapted.
Bioterrorism Readiness Plan: A Template for Healthcare Facilities
This plan, which is made available through a partnership of APIC and the CDC, outlines the steps necessary for responding to the biological agents most likely to be employed in any future biological attack: smallpox, botulism toxin, anthrax, and plague. The plan provides information on the unique characteristics, specific recommendations, management, and follow-up appropriate for each of these biological agents. Association for Professional in Infection Control and Epidemiology.
Weapons of Mass Destruction Events with Contaminated Casualties: Effective Planning for Health Care Facilities
By Anthony G. Macintyre, MD; Lt COL George W. Christopher, USAF, MC; COL Edward Eitzen, Jr, MC, USA; LTC Robert Gum, MC, USA; Scott Weir, MD; Craig DeAtley, PA-C; CDR Kevin Tonat, DrPH, MPH, USPHS; Joseph A. Barbera, MD. JAMA Vol. 283 No. 2, (January 12, 2000).
Hospital Preparedness for Mass Casualties
By the American Hospital Association (March 8-9, 2000)
Final report of the "Invitational Forum on Hospital Preparedness for Mass Casualties" held by AHA with support from the Office of Emergency Preparedness of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Chicago, Illinois. The report includes recommendations on community-wide preparedness, staffing, staff training, staff support, internal and external communications, and public policy.
Mass Casualty Disaster Plan Checklist: A Template for Healthcare Facilities
By Association for Professionals in Infections Control and Epidemiology
The checklist is designed to provide facilities with questions that stimulate assessment and dialogue with key stakeholders both within the facility as well as at the local level and beyond.
Hospital Disaster Plan
By the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services-Licensing
This planning document is intended to provide policy for response to both internal and external disaster situations that may affect hospital staff, patients, visitors and the community; identify responsibilities of individuals and departments in the event of a disaster situation; and identify standard operating guidelines for emergency activities and responses.
Hospital Disaster Preparedness: Meeting a Requirement or Preparing for the Worst?
By Paul V. Richter, Risk Management Coordinator for Support Services, South Carolina Hospital Association, West Columbia, SC.
Article addresses issues of hospital preparedness that go beyond just meeting accreditation requirements. Appendix A includes a disaster-planning checklist that can help hospitals evaluate their existing disaster plan.