As the pandemic continues to spread, the US healthcare system has found its overall state of emergency preparedness to be lacking, according to an article in Health Leaders Media. Supplies of personal protective equipment for medical professionals and support staff has frequently been in short supply, supply chains have been weak, and various regions have found their hospitals overwhelmed. While it is too late to change what has already happened, Brian Armstrong, RN, MBA, BSN, has offered three key recommendations from his extensive career in emergency preparedness, to help ensure it doesn’t happen again:
- Keep your emergency management plans up to date, rather than ignoring them once they’re prepared. Says Armstrong, “this lack of ongoing review and reassessment meant that when COVID-19 began to sweep the globe, many health systems did not have adequate plans in place for defining roles or adjusting supply chains.”
- Don’t be overconfident. Says Armstrong of previous outbreaks, “While the H1N1, Ebola, and SARS viruses were expected to have a dramatic effect on public health and the healthcare system, the actual effects were less severe than anticipated, which may have lulled organizations into a false sense of security.”
- Recognize local conditions. Emergency preparedness plans shouldn’t treat all possible events equally. Armstrong notes “A hospital in Florida will have hurricanes rate much more highly than a hospital in Ohio, which might see tornados high on the list. A global pandemic was not high on any hospital’s threat assessment.”
Armstrong offers other insights too, considering both planning for future pandemics, and also considering some of the lessons learned from the response to COVID-19.
Source:
https://www.healthleadersmedia.com/clinical-care/how-improve-emergency-preparedness-pandemics
