Emergency Preparedness & Response

ABOGACÍA & POLÍTICA

La Asociación de Hospitales del Distrito de Columbia trabaja para hacer avanzar los hospitales y los sistemas de salud del Distrito mediante la promoción de políticas e iniciativas que fortalecen nuestro sistema de atención.

DC Hospitals Care 24/7/365

The District’s hospitals are on the front lines of caring for the patients 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, therefore it’s imperative that our hospitals are prepared for the unexpected. Whether it be natural disaster, mass casualty event or a disease outbreak, our hospitals are prepared to respond and ensure continuity of operations. The District of Columbia’s Emergency Management Committee works collaboratively with our government and other health care partners to adopt best practices to ensure our members can continue to provide high-quality care no matter the situation.

DCHA and its members are part of the DC Health and Medical Coalition, which assists DC Health in carrying out is its emergency preparedness, response and recovery responsibilities. DCHA has a Preparedness Association Liaison that works with our members and DC Health to ensure our preparedness goals are met.

In support of our hospitals, DCHA maintains the Hospital Mutual Aid Radio System (HMARS) to ensure that hospitals and other health care facilities are able to effectively and efficiently communicate their needs during an emergency.

Preparedness in Action

El Comité de Manejo de Emergencias de DCHA Estandariza una Serie de Códigos de Emergencia en los Hospitales del Distrito

Emergency codes are important announcements to ensure facilities operate in accordance with their mission and to the best of their capabilities. The Department of Homeland Security released a report citing the importance of using standardized plain language codes. The report writes, “The use of plain language (clear text) in emergency management and incident response is a matter of public safety, especially the safety of emergency management/response personnel and those affected by the incident. It is critical that all those involved with an incident know and use commonly established operational structures, terminology, policies and procedures. This will facilitate interoperability across agencies, organizations, jurisdictions and disciplines.” The guidelines for standardized emergency codes have also been promoted by The Joint Commission for events or threats that can inflict harm on hospital staff, patients and visitors.

DCHA hospital leaders see the value in creating uniform systems that enable their staff to be adequately informed during an emergency as well as equipping visitors with adequate information to protect themselves. This was important for the District’s hospitals as many of our staff are employed by multiple hospitals and often work between facilities. The DCHA Emergency Management Committee (EMC) completed a standardization initiative to enhance the emergency preparedness and response efforts for District hospitals’ staff, the patients they serve, and the communities they protect.

Leveraging the collective expertise, the EMC reviewed all member hospital codes for a series of emergency events/alerts. The Committee agreed to use a combination of color and plain language following national trends and best practices. It was further determined the minimum requirement for implementation would be to standardize the nomenclature (with a focus on plain language) and definition for the select emergency codes across the hospitals. Each facility would be given the flexibility to designate their color code for the specific emergency as they deemed appropriate.