HHS: Most U.S. hospitals are ready for trouble
Are U.S. hospitals ready for emergencies? Mostly, yes, as more than 76 percent of the organizations participating in the National Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP) met at least 90 percent of the program measures for all-hazards preparedness in 2009, stated a report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response.
The report, “From Hospitals to Healthcare Coalitions: Transforming Health Preparedness and Response in Our Communities,” was released May 5. It is the HPP’s first state-by-state preparedness assessment, and identifies the advances that states have made in preparing hospitals for disasters of all types, and discusses the next steps the program will take to boost community resilience.
Facilities in all 50 states, eight U.S. territories and four large metropolitan areas participated in the cooperative agreement grant program, which provides federal funds, technical assistance and guidelines for hospital preparedness.
Of the more than 6,300 hospitals across the nation, more than 85 percent take advantage of the program, according to HHS.
To meet preparedness performance measures, hospitals must have dedicated redundant, interoperable systems in place to communicate among facilities, public health agencies and emergency managers. These hospitals also can report the number of available beds to a state, territory or city emergency operations center within 60 minutes of a request during a disaster.
These hospitals also have plans to handle a surge in demand for services during a disaster, as well as plans for hospital evacuation, sheltering patients and staff in place during a disaster and to respond to mass fatalities.
Hospitals demonstrated their response capability during emergency exercises, including statewide or regional exercises, or actual incidents. The hospitals developed improvement plans based on after-action reports from these events. During a disaster, they would use the incident command system, and have adopted the National Incident Management System throughout the hospital organization. These systems standardize response terminology and command-and-control structure across the emergency response.
To meet some of these performance measures and enhance the response capability, states, territories, cities and participating hospitals also used HPP funding to purchase emergency equipment, such as mobile medical units to bring medical care to survivors during disaster response and back-up generators to keep participating hospitals running when power is otherwise unavailable, stated HHS.
The report suggested that, as an increasing number of hospitals meet the program’s performance measures, participants also focus on building coalitions within communities so that hospitals, government agencies, nongovernment organizations, businesses and community residents work as a team to prepare for and respond to disasters. The report recommends that these coalitions involve all populations within communities, including children, pregnant women, the elderly and those who are vulnerable in other ways.
In July 2010, states, territories and large metropolitan areas received HPP grants totaling $390.5 million to help hospitals and other healthcare organizations strengthen the medical surge capability across the nation. HPP funding focuses on enhancing planning, increasing integration between public and private-sector medical planning and assets and improving infrastructure.
HHS established the program in 2002 as the National Bioterrorism Hospital Preparedness Program. Since then, the program has evolved to support preparedness for all hazards.
Click here to access the report.
The report, “From Hospitals to Healthcare Coalitions: Transforming Health Preparedness and Response in Our Communities,” was released May 5. It is the HPP’s first state-by-state preparedness assessment, and identifies the advances that states have made in preparing hospitals for disasters of all types, and discusses the next steps the program will take to boost community resilience.
Facilities in all 50 states, eight U.S. territories and four large metropolitan areas participated in the cooperative agreement grant program, which provides federal funds, technical assistance and guidelines for hospital preparedness.
Of the more than 6,300 hospitals across the nation, more than 85 percent take advantage of the program, according to HHS.
To meet preparedness performance measures, hospitals must have dedicated redundant, interoperable systems in place to communicate among facilities, public health agencies and emergency managers. These hospitals also can report the number of available beds to a state, territory or city emergency operations center within 60 minutes of a request during a disaster.
These hospitals also have plans to handle a surge in demand for services during a disaster, as well as plans for hospital evacuation, sheltering patients and staff in place during a disaster and to respond to mass fatalities.
Hospitals demonstrated their response capability during emergency exercises, including statewide or regional exercises, or actual incidents. The hospitals developed improvement plans based on after-action reports from these events. During a disaster, they would use the incident command system, and have adopted the National Incident Management System throughout the hospital organization. These systems standardize response terminology and command-and-control structure across the emergency response.
To meet some of these performance measures and enhance the response capability, states, territories, cities and participating hospitals also used HPP funding to purchase emergency equipment, such as mobile medical units to bring medical care to survivors during disaster response and back-up generators to keep participating hospitals running when power is otherwise unavailable, stated HHS.
The report suggested that, as an increasing number of hospitals meet the program’s performance measures, participants also focus on building coalitions within communities so that hospitals, government agencies, nongovernment organizations, businesses and community residents work as a team to prepare for and respond to disasters. The report recommends that these coalitions involve all populations within communities, including children, pregnant women, the elderly and those who are vulnerable in other ways.
In July 2010, states, territories and large metropolitan areas received HPP grants totaling $390.5 million to help hospitals and other healthcare organizations strengthen the medical surge capability across the nation. HPP funding focuses on enhancing planning, increasing integration between public and private-sector medical planning and assets and improving infrastructure.
HHS established the program in 2002 as the National Bioterrorism Hospital Preparedness Program. Since then, the program has evolved to support preparedness for all hazards.
Click here to access the report.