Berwick Hospital System Memo
The purpose of this memorandum is to conduct a risk assessment and recommend a continuity plan for any disaster the hospital might face. The memorandum will make an effort to look into the ways through which the hospital system can be more prepared to deal with catastrophes.
Risks associated with continuity of operations during an environmental catastrophe
Hospitals face a host of challenges when a natural disaster occurs. The challenges include the threat to the staff and patients, but also an increase in the number of patients from the surrounding area. There is, therefore, the need to design and upgrade business continuity plans for hospitals. The first step that the hospital can take in improving its emergency preparedness is the evaluation of the risks that come with environmental disasters. The first risk comes in the form of a threat to the safety of the employees. Hospitals, just like every other workplace have the responsibility of ensuring that their employees work in a safe environment. In the case of a catastrophe, however, hospital staff are made to work under very dangerous conditions. The implication is that the employees suffer not only physical but also emotional harm (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). There is a need for employees to be protected from physical harm resulting from collapsing buildings, radioactive material and exposure to dangerous patients. Besides, there is the risk of an emotional breakdown of the employees since they operate under stressful situations, and are more likely to be overworked.
A majority of the environmental catastrophes involve water. Occurrences such as flooding and hurricanes have become common in the recent past. A risk that arises from such disasters is the contamination or destruction of the water and electrical utilities. Water systems such as sewage and electrical systems such as wiring and insulation are highly compromised during natural disasters (Smith, 2013). It becomes a burden for the hospitals to repair these systems given that they are essential to the recovery after a catastrophe. The best approaches here include the involvement of municipal water system officials to assess the level of damage to the water systems. In respect to the electrical utilities, hospitals engage Local fire safety marshals to begin recovery work after the destruction of the different electrical systems.
During natural catastrophes, the destruction of structures and other structural building material represents one of the greatest risks. Here, the hospital structures are likely to be destroyed at varying levels depending on the intensity of the natural catastrophe. When water is involved, structural building materials can be either destroyed or contaminated. Some of the materials can be salvaged by covering with plastic material to control the development of mold (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). In other cases, however, porous materials which are submerged are often beyond recovery and require replacement. After the recovery from the natural catastrophe involving water, there is usually a risk of the residual moisture in structural building materials. Such occurrences compromise the quality of health outcome in the hospital, leading to the need for extensive examination of all contaminated surfaces.
Another risk that comes with the occurrence of natural disasters is the destruction of medical equipment, devices, and supplies. Depending on the intensity of the catastrophe, hospitals are left to analyze the level of damage and establish what can be salvaged, and what needs to be discarded. Given that medical equipment is at the center of hospital operations, their destruction completely paralyzes hospital operations. Damage here ranges from laundry services to sterile supply zones and steam autoclaves (Smith, 2013). In this case, hospitals need to conduct an evaluation of this equipment to establish whether they are safe for operations. To ensure that in-depth analysis of the condition of the medical equipment after a disaster is achieved, hospitals often contact manufacturers of the said equipment. This is done in a bid to get a professional analysis of the product’s condition and show whether it can be re-used. In cases where damage is minimal, the equipment is disinfected through the appropriate means, whereas, in cases where more damage has been realized, the equipment is discarded.
Another risk associated with natural catastrophes comes in the form of destruction of medical supplies and records. After the occurrence of disasters, hospitals often face the daunting task of assessing the level of damage to the registers and supplies, to establish which ones can be reprocessed or repackaged. In cases of fire, most of the hospital supplies such as curtains, furniture and mattresses are often wholly destroyed. In catastrophes that involve water, however, these supplies can be readily salvaged through cleaning and drying. There is also the threat of compromising the packaged supplies such as bandages, steel equipment, and plastic. If salvageable, such supplies need to undergo re-sterilization, which may prove to be costly to the facility.
On the aftermath of a natural catastrophe, hospitals often face the risk of infections that are caused by fungi. Some water related microorganisms such as nontuberculous mycobacteria, Legionella, are on the rise due to damage caused by water (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). The hospitals are, therefore, forced to invest in Post Reoccupation Surveillance. This is meant to establish whether the patients who receive care after the occurrence of a natural catastrophe suffer from any of these water-related infections.
Sample continuity plan to cope with a natural catastrophe
The model continuity plan that Berwick system can adopt in coping with a natural catastrophe is made up of some fundamental aspects. These aspects are highlighted below, with the focus being on helping the hospital get through the occurrence of a natural catastrophe.
Purpose of the continuity plan
The Berwick Hospital continuity plan will be adopted to give a sense of direction when instances of natural disasters and other catastrophes take place. The continuity plan will be put to use in consideration of the impact that the natural disasters will have had to the hospital or departments within the hospital. The continuity plan highlights the resources and the processes that will be undertaken upon the occurrence of a natural disaster. In addition to these, the activities of different stakeholders in the continuity operations will be clearly mapped out. The ultimate goal of the plan is to ensure that the hospital can resume normalcy of operations after the occurrence of a catastrophic event.
Scope and application
The continuity plan will be put in place to improve the coping ability of the hospital upon the occurrence of substantial damage to the hospital and its various departments. The continuity plan will be put to use in situations where the cost of the catastrophe poses significant damage to the operations, business, and physical facilities at the hospital. This is based on the realization that the hospital plays an important role for community support during and after the occurrence of the natural disaster. The continuity plan will be used hand in hand with the already established Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) to ensure that the normal functions are resumed (Devlen, 2009). Some staff will be involved in the application of the continuity plan. Departments will be responsible for carrying out the continuity plan, with the appointed business continuity director being in charge of development of an Incident Action Plan (IAP).
Planning data
The continuity plan will require the conducting of different forms of analysis to inform the direction that the plan takes. The first kind of analysis will touch on the business impact of the catastrophe. The focus he, will be on the essential operations that each department in the hospital engaged in. After the identification of the basic operations, they will be prioritized. This will inform the allocation of resources to the operations, to ensure that the hospital resumes its essential or critical operations.
Another form of analysis will touch on the threats and the risks that the hospital faces (Smith, 2013). The goal here is to get a clear understanding of the vulnerability of the hospital, and the anticipated level of damage to operations and facilities within the hospital. This analysis will provide data that enables the hospital to mitigate the impacts of natural catastrophes.
Staffing needs in the continuity plan
During the process of coping with the natural catastrophe, it will be important for the hospital to establish the number of staff required to carry out specific operations. This allocation will depend on the prioritization of essential operations done earlier, and points of vulnerability also identified earlier. Departments will be required to communicate the staff required to carry out various operations, and clarify the need for the physical presence of the said employees.
Application of information technology
Information technology is an important tool in the proposed hospital’s continuity plan. This will involve the combination of plans, processes and technical measures taken to help the hospital recover its IT operations. This includes essential data that may be lost during the occurrence of a natural catastrophe. There are some alternatives when it comes to IT continuity planning. The first involves the restoration of all IT related activities to a site outside the hospital. Alternatively, the hospital can resolve to use manual means to recover some of the business operations, though on a short term basis (Devlen, 2009).
Identification of critical equipment
The continuity plan will require an inventory of all the resources that the hospital needs to pursue its essential operations. This will be done to ensure that the hospital persists in its critical operations as it copes with the occurrence of a catastrophic event.
Dealing with critical records
In the usual hospital operations, various documents are central to the functioning of the hospital. In coping with the occurrence of a catastrophic event, it will be necessary to ensure that the records are addressed in the continuity plan. Some of the records essential to the operations of the hospital include patient records, records of the clinical trials previously conducted and data on the administration of controlled drugs to the patients. Also, records that touch on birth, court cases, contracts with suppliers, accounting details and intellectual property need to be considered in the continuity plan (Devlen, 2009).
Development of the Continuity Plan Tool
The tool will be developed through the consideration of the aspects mentioned above. The goal will be to come up with a tool that matches the critical operations of the hospital with available resources. Different departments will use the tool to present their needs, which will be submitted to the business continuity director.
The business continuity director will lead the utilization of the hospital's continuity plan, in collaboration with heads of different departments in the hospital. They will be expected to develop an Incident Action Plan (IAP), which will inform the overall hospital’s coping behavior to the occurrence of a catastrophe.
In conclusion, I hope that this memo will prove to be informative about the continuity plan that the hospital needs to adopt to cope with the occurrence of a natural disaster. I will be available for any clarification to any aspect of this report.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Emergency Preparedness and Response. Retrieved january 23, 2016, from cdc.gov: http://emergency.cdc.gov/disasters/reopen_healthfacilities.asp
Devlen, A. (2009). How to Build a Comprehensive Business Continuity Programme for a healthcare Organization. Journal of Business Continuity and Emergency, 47-61. .
Smith, K. (2013). Environmental Hazards: Assessing Risk and Reducing Disaster. Routledge.
