Response planning

Abstract

The World Trade Center, September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, in the Gulf in 2005, have produced significant changes in emergency response planning and potential funding opportunities in the United States. Hospitals, healthcare organizations, and acute care providers are now active in community disaster response preparation, planning, and mitigation strategies. Isolatedsilo, preparation, and planning is now considered unacceptable. Local and county emergency operations centers, emergency medical services (EMS), hospitals, acute care providers, community agencies, and volunteer agencies now work in collaboration to develop community and regional response plans. Laws and regulatory requirements for preparedness and planning have gone through several revisions and amendments at the Federal and State level. Accreditation organizations such as the Joint Commission have revised their emergency management standards to reflect a stronger emphasis on system integration and sustainability. This chapter will focus on the hospital planning phases of emergency response. Planning is considered the most important aspect of the emergency response process. The planning process brings together multiagencies and multidisciplines to review the response history of the community, define threats, define gaps in hospital response, and develop strategies to improve the overall response plans. © 2009 Springer New York.