Getting hospitals ready for a WMD event
Thursday, July 29, 2010 at 12:06AM 
pic here
Bernadine Healy piece in Newsweek catches my eye because of Enterra’s emerging/ongoing work with major hospitals in the NYC area (and now in TX) regarding this very same issue: how to maximize and coordinate cooperation among major hospitals in the event of WMD terrorism.
Healy cites a Thomas Tallman, head of emergency services at the fabled Cleveland Clinic on 4 key points:
First, hospitals must be ready to respond to any large-scale terrorist attack via robust contingency plans for patient flow (something Enterra works on a lot).
Second, all healthcare workers are trained up on WMD drills and can rely on plans posted throughout the facility.
Third, and most importantly in our minds, “networks of local and regional hospitals have been created to work closely with public authorities so resources can be shared.” This is what the exercises are for, making everyone aware of and conversant in the network established.
Fourth, the chain of command is clear and practiced ahead of time—another key aspect of exercises, in my experience.
All really basic stuff but hard to achieve in facilities that operate—as a rule—as close to 100% capacity all the time in order to save money.
Healy’s point: even if you do all four, no plan will survive contact with an actual WMD event, due to the immense complexity.
That’s where Enterra comes in with its focus on rules smart enough to rule themselves and change in response to altered conditions (altered as far as the plans are concerned).
Bottom line: your plans have to be reconfigurable on the fly.
Reader Comments (2)
Tom,
I worked on the emergency communications dimension of this for some time, and found that when it came to interoperability and guideline creation, there seemed to be unusual institutional barriers in place. Scripting the comms operations in the form of guidelines so that someone could be plugged into a coordinator position almost off the street was problematic. I crafted something akin to a script after finding large gaps in HICS and other related documents. Portability of the on - site command post in the event of some sort of bio - compromise of the facility in question raises other questions as well, not always easily resolved, too, especially when mulitple facilties are involved.
Peter Brown
Interoperable comms for public safety?
Hospitals with a disaster plan beyond "Call 911"?
No inter-jurisdictional or inter-discipline pissing matches?
Pull the other one.
I am somewhat cynical about this topic having had to threaten hospital staff with arrest for obstructing the discharge of police duties. Doctors don't like to be told "no" or what to do and how to do it. Same goes for school administrators.
We'll (those in the Public Safety end of it) will muddle through as always.