Crisis Management: How Emergency Medical Teams Develop Disaster Preparedness Playbooks
Crisis Management: How Emergency Medical Teams Develop Disaster Preparedness Playbooks
When a crisis strikes, such as the arrival of COVID-19 in Philadelphia in March 2020, it might appear that experts and hospitals are scrambling to develop their responses on the fly. However, Penn Medicine is ahead of the curve with its dedicated Hospital Emergency Response Team (HERT). This team proactively monitors potential threats, develops response plans, conducts drills, and coordinates with regional agencies well before a crisis hits.
While most hospitals have some form of emergency readiness team, the scope and effectiveness of these teams can vary significantly based on available staff and resources. The responsibilities of assessing risks, creating plans, leading drills, and training staff are intensive and often managed by HERT members who balance these duties with their clinical roles in the emergency department.
“While in any emergency, there are things we won’t be able to anticipate, we try and dream up all possible scenarios and prepare contingencies for the most likely things to go wrong.”
CHUG provides long-term care organizations with expert coordination of evacuation, transportation, relocation and shelter-in-place services. We also offer our expertise with response and restoration services, including fire and water damage, mold remediation, infectious disease clean-up and catastrophic loss.
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