This session will provide emergency management personnel with an
overview of hospital evacuation considerations when there are
only minutes to hours to prepare. The life cycle of an evacuation
event will be presented including the Pre-Evacuation, Evacuation,
and Post-Evacuation stages, with a focus on the preparedness and
response actions in each stage. The components of a standardized
evacuation toolkit and recommendations for hospitals/health care
systems to adapt and implement the toolkit will be reviewed.
Presenter:
Suzy Fitzgerald, MD, FACEP, FAAEM,
Regional EM Training Director & Emergency Physician, Kaiser
Permanente Northern California
Shakiara Kitchen, CHEP, CEM, Regional
Practice Specialist, Emergency Management, Kaiser Permanante
The primary objective of this presentation is to assist other
health care facilities with improving their own response and
business continuity plans in the event of a wildfire evacuation.
Presenters share lessons learned from the full-scale evacuation
of Barton Memorial Hospital and Skilled Nursing Facility in
response to the Caldor Fire. We will discuss the logistical
challenges of evacuating and repopulating a bistate rural health
care system, explore staffing and personnel challenges and
considerations, and review lessons learned.
Presenter:
April Boyde, MSSM, CPP, Safety
and Security Manage
Elizabeth Stork, Chief Human Resource
Officer, Barton Health
August 19, 2022: California Department of Public
Health (CDPHi) released a new guidance document on
wildfire as an update to previous guidance released in
2019.
The guidance provides essential information to those involved in
planning for and responding to California’s wildfire smoke
events. While the primary focus is Public Health, it incorporates
important information from related disciplines, including
environmental air quality regulation, to better prepare Public
Health Officials for this increasing threat.
Although Public Health Officials are the primary audience, this
information may be useful to hospitals and healthcare systems as
they plan for the impacts of wildfire smoke episodes.
The Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal FIRE) serves
and safeguards the people and protects the property and resources
of California. The Cal Fire
Website offers tips and information on hot topics, incident
information, and social media links to keep you informed on the
go.
SAMHSA
announced this week that its Disaster Distress Helpline can
provide immediate counseling to anyone who may need help dealing
with the problems that the Northern California wildfires have
caused. The helpline’s number is 800.985.5990, and the resource
is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Hospitals are girding for the presidential conventions and host
cities are expecting the usual minor events. However, they are
also preparing for bigger events such as terrorist attacks,
riots, shootings and fistfights. The biggest concern is for
demonstrations that may turn violent.
These concerns have resulted in hospitals holding off on elective
surgeries; hospitals have also asked trauma surgeons to defer
vacations, and they are stockpiling enough equipment — including
surgical tools, medications, and linens — to last 96 hours
without resupply.
A bark beetle epidemic (NewsDeeply
Article Perfect Storm Brewing for California Fire
Season) driven by drought is killing off millions of
trees in the Sierra Nevada and increasing the fire risk as
California starts another summer plagued by drought and higher
temperatures. While California embraces another fire season,
hospitals and health care providers should review their emergency
operations plans, policies and procedures. To prepare, hospitals
can download an evacuation, shelter-in-place and repopulation
checklists at http://www.calhospitalprepare.org/evacuation.
Additional resources for hospital employees on personal, family
and pet preparedness are available at http://www.calhospitalprepare.org/personal-preparedness.
For more information on this fire season, visit the Cal Fire
website at http://www.fire.ca.gov/.
Recovering from a fire can be a physically and mentally draining
process. When fire strikes, lives are suddenly turned around.
Often, the hardest part is knowing where to begin and who to
contact.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) United States
Fire Administration (USFA) has gathered the following information
to assist you in this time of need. Action on some of the
suggestions will need to be taken immediately. Some actions may
be needed in the future while others will be on going. The
purpose of this information is to give you the assistance needed
to assist you as you begin rebuilding your life.
