Special Report: Lessons from Hurricane Katrina
Disasters rarely happen as planned, use realistic tests
The New Orleans experience should make risk managers aware that disasters rarely unfold the way you expected them to in all those planning sessions. If your plan for a major fire at your hospital involves moving patients to another facility down the street, what if that facility is out of action too? If your plan calls for evacuating patients to another city, what if all the roads are closed?
Security became a key issue for hospitals in New Orleans, says Fred Roll, CHPA-F, CPP, president of the International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety (IAHSS) in Glendale Heights, IL. As the situation grew dire, Roll received calls from hospitals in the area asking how they could get security personnel in place quickly.
“And they wanted the biggest, baddest, most heavily armed guards they could find," he recalls. “When people are on the rampage, a hospital becomes a target for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is your pharmacy."
Roll notes that many disaster plans include an agreement with a security company that, in the event of a crisis, will send security officers in a hurry. But very few hospitals actually test this arrangement, he says.
Also, don't forget that the security officers are sometimes off-duty police officers, which means they will be otherwise engaged during a communitywide crisis. And even if they are civilians, don't expect them all to stay around if everyone else is evacuating.
Calling the security company during a paper drill and asking if they can send officers is no good, Roll says. The company always will say yes. “But are you willing to have them send those officers over and pay whatever it takes to see if they can do what they're promising you?"
Also, Roll asks, have you asked the company how many other hospitals or businesses they have signed the same agreement with? “They only have so many officers to send when everyone wants them at the same time," he says.
The New Orleans experience should make risk managers aware that disasters rarely unfold the way you expected them to in all those planning sessions. If your plan for a major fire at your hospital involves moving patients to another facility down the street, what if that facility is out of action too? If your plan calls for evacuating patients to another city, what if all the roads are closed?You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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