Patient Safety Quarterly: Look for specific hazards and then plan for problems
February 1, 2002 3 minutes read
Patient Safety Quarterly: Look for specific hazards and then plan for problems
Like life insurance, a disaster preparedness plan is something you hope you never have to use. But in case you do, you’d better have a darn good one in place — especially if your worst-case scenario involves a nuclear accident.
At Lockheed Martin Energy Systems of Oak Ridge, TN, which manages energy-related facilities for the U.S. Department of Energy (D.O.E.), the disaster preparedness plan is characterized by a methodical, organized approach and attention to detail.
"Hazard and Consequence Assessment, as required by the D.O.E., is the foundation of the program," says Joe Inman, emergency manager, who oversees the plan. "It drives the type of response, the numbers of responders, and so forth."
Elements of the plan
Every response plan has the following four basic elements (for an example of how each step works in a specific event, click here.):
- Planning: understanding the potential problem;
- Emergency preparedness: putting in place the tools needed to ensure a proper immediate response;
- Response: being equipped and staffed with the capability to mitigate the emergency;
- Recovery: once the problem has been mitigated, making the transition back to normal operations.
"If you look at what we do, we basically have two missions," Inman explains. "First, we sit down and plan for those events we know could happen and walk through them in the calm of day, making sure everyone knows how to respond. Second, we put in place a framework that allows us to respond."
How the plan works
Inman explains how the four phases would play out in the event of a fire:
- Planning: Are there hazardous materials in the area? What are the evacuation routes? Determine where the assembly stations are, so you can make sure everyone gets out. If everyone doesn’t get out, be ready to send responders (dressed in fireproof clothing) to look for them.
- Preparedness: Train your people, run them through a drill of the program, so if anything happens, they won’t be experiencing it for the first time.
- Response: Make sure that not only internal people but also external people, such as fire departments or emergency brigades, are ready to respond.
- Recovery: If we lose a vital part of an administration building, such as computers, how can we recover?
During the employee orientation session, new employees are given general background information on what they need to do to protect their own health and safety, says John Bolling, energy systems emergency management program manager. This includes learning the different alarm sounds peculiar to specific situations. "They are also trained on how to report an emergency and to make sure help is summoned," he notes.
Anyone who comes on site unescorted must have this training, says Bolling. In addition, says Inman, "Each year they have facility-specific training." There is also an annual drill to ensure "evacuation accountability."
As with its health and safety program in general, the emergency response system at Lockheed Martin is based on smooth interdepartmental integration.
Each site is required to have its own medical program, he notes, "And we are required to define the interface between that medical plan and how the department interfaces with the emergency plan." For example, in a mass-casualty situation, occupational medicine professionals are mobilized as emergency responders.
However, Inman notes, some situations may call for more help than can be provided on-site. "We have memos of understanding with the surrounding community in case we exceed our capabilities — these include ambulance services [land and air], the fire department, the Red Cross, and the state of Tennessee."
The plan had to be exercised this spring, says Inman, during a tornado warning. Thankfully, there was no damage to the facility, he reports, but "the plan went quite well."
You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
- Award-winning Medical Content
- Latest Advances & Development in Medicine
- Unbiased Content