Preparing your hospital to handle a disaster is far from a simple process. Not only are there a number of types of disasters that can occur, the coordination of many different departments and disciplines is required.

You’re at home during a thunderstorm, the power cuts out, you search for a flashlight — and the batteries are dead. Plenty of us have been there.

September is National Preparedness Month, and there is no better time to put a disaster preparedness plan in place for your hospital. 

With a well-considered plan, you will be able to tackle problems before they even strike. And although creating a preparedness plan may seem overwhelming, with the right tools and resources, you’ll be able to quickly develop a much clearer understanding of the dangers that can threaten your facility during a crisis.

Disaster preparation is an enormous undertaking for any hospital, but for small or rural hospitals, this challenge is amplified. Geographical separation, budget and staffing shortages, as well as limited bed availability can cause a rural hospital to be quickly overwhelmed when disaster strikes.

Hospitals can generally anticipate an increase in patient volume following a disaster in the community. However, as disasters such as Hurricane Ida have demonstrated, this surge may persist even beyond the immediate influx of patients, especially if there is significant local damage. From dialysis centers to ambulatory care clinics to outpatient chemotherapy–if other health care facilities are inoperable, those patients will rely on the nearest hospital for their medical needs.

The transition to a new year is a fine time to revisit emergency preparedness plans—both for your agency or organization and for the larger community you serve. These six recent emergency preparedness studies should inform your own planning, as well as your educational efforts within your community. These emergency management trends can help you stay ahead of the curve. 

Even in a brand new hospital with all of the latest technology, systems are not completely foolproof. As a medical professional, the more you can anticipate problems, the more prepared you will be to handle them and advanced planning may help avoid a potential crisis.

The total cost of natural disasters reached more than $268 billion worldwide in 2020. Catastrophes such as hurricanes, wildfires, droughts, floods, and earthquakes displace millions of people every year and send thousands to emergency departments.

Climate change, increasingly crowded urban centers, and failing infrastructure all play a role in exacerbating the effect of these disasters. Yet many EMS departments remain woefully unprepared. Don’t wait for a natural disaster to hit your area–prepare now, because once disaster strikes, it’s too late and lives can be lost.

Massive health disasters are increasingly common. As climate change accelerates, so too will the rate at which people die or are injured because of climate-related natural disasters. In 2020, natural disasters claimed more than 8,000 lives worldwide. Infections and contagious diseases,  food and waterborne illnesses, global pandemics, and even the flu can trigger widespread public health catastrophes. 

In addition, illnesses are increasingly intersecting with natural disasters to produce serious emergencies. Natural disasters displace people, cause crowded conditions, and increase the risk of poor sanitation, allowing disease to more rapidly spread. Public health nurses play a critical role in educating the public and providing support to those recovering from various disaster scenarios.

To prepare a hospital to function in an emergency means implementation of a multi-faceted process that requires answers to a tremendous number of questions–Where can we create additional patient care areas in an emergency? How will we keep intubated patients safe if the hospital loses power? How can we make our food supply last if delivery trucks cannot get to the hospital?