For hospitals, emergency preparedness is something they need to examine on a continuous basis. With threats and challenges evolving rapidly, they can’t wait to see how things will play out, but instead need to actively adapt in anticipation of new challenges, as their preparedness can mean the different between life and death for those in their communities, according to an article in Time. Three years of the COVID-19 pandemic has taught many lessons to those in charge of these emergency preparedness plans, but they’re still working to improve to help face what may come next.
At the moment, hospitals around the nation are working to ready themselves for:
- The next epidemic — says Eric Alberts, senior director of emergency preparedness at Orlando Health in Florida, “No one believes we’re past current and future threats when it comes to epidemics and pandemics. Every hospital is still on high alert when it comes to trying to anticipate what’s next.”
- Hospital violence — violent attacks against medical professionals increased by 63% from 2011 and 2018, and almost half of nurses said they’d been subject to workplace violence
- Weather disasters — as climate change drives more severe weather events, hospitals are increasingly finding themselves in situations where they need to evacuate patients and shut down services, as it’s not safe to continue operating
- Cyber attacks — ransomware continues to plague the heath care system, as the amount of private and personal health data makes them popular targets for hackers looking for quick paydays.
- Lack of funding — increasingly, hospitals are being asked to do more with less, as budgets become strained, and staffing challenges grow with high staff turnovers, including at the top, where the average hospital CEO is only in place for 18 months
Source:
https://time.com/6236510/how-hospitals-plan-for-emergencies/
