Disaster management is an imperative measure that should be executed by all healthcare organizations to mitigate the adverse effects of a disaster. The process entails predicting and where possible preventing as well as mitigating the impact of the unfavorable occurrence on a random demographic. Disaster preparedness is part of disaster management and they are the measures are undertaken by healthcare organizations to prepare for an unforeseen emergency situation. In the healthcare sector, having an ideal emergency preparedness plan is essential in ensuring that an institution has all the essential medical resources to cater for an unplanned emergency healthcare need. Examples of such resources may include nursing staff, hospital beds, ambulatory services, and treatment drugs among others. If executed efficiently, emergency preparedness efforts can help an institution to assuage the loss of life and manage different levels of pain in victims of unplanned occurrences. Also, through such functions, an organization is able to promote the overall wellness of the public members by providing essential healthcare interventions to those in need . The following report is a comprehensive proposal for enacting an emergency preparedness plan for a 600-bed government healthcare institution due to an imminent terrorist attack that may impact the operations of a medical facility.
Procedures of the Public Health Services
The essential public health service procedures that the hospital must focus on to prepare for the predicted emergency situation will include the monitoring of health status of patients so as to identify and solve medical issues, and informing, educating, and empowering affected individuals about health issues. The other will include enforcing policies and regulations for protecting the health of patients and ensuring their safety after being admitted to the hospital. Lastly, the medical institution will strive to maintain a competent healthcare workforce that will be focused on offering high-quality medical services to all the individuals that will be affected by the anticipated terror attack. Monitoring of the health status of patients admitted at the hospital due to the crisis will lead to the attainment of an improved healthcare outcome among such patients. That is because it will be easy for the healthcare personnel at the institution to identify any health complications in the admitted patients and employ essential treatment interventions to solve such problems. Improved healthcare outcomes of patients will build the hospitals’ reputation in the nation as an effective public institution that has the capability of responding to critical emergency healthcare scenarios with positive healthcare results.
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Through informing, educating and empowering patients about their healthcare issues, clients admitted due to the terrorist attack will be in a position to make informed and rational decisions on medical procedures that they may need. Subsequently, this will promote the healthcare institution’s reputation as a medical facility that adheres to the ethical principle of autonomy when offering essential medical services to patients (Butts & Rich, 2015) . Creating policies, as well as regulations that protect the health and safety of the admitted patients at the hospital, will promote the hospital’s reputation for complying with the Nonmaleficence principle when treating patients. The Nonmaleficence principle stipulates that medical institutions must enforce policies as well as regulations that protect the health and safety of patients after they have been hospitalized or admitted (Lundy & Janes, 2014) . Ultimately, by maintaining a competent workforce at the healthcare institution, particularly after the terror attack, the hospital will be able to build its reputation for complying with the fidelity principle in nursing. The fidelity principle stipulates that all nurses must be faithful and also true in their professional responsibilities as well as promises of providing safe and high-quality medical services in a competent manner (Acton, 2013) .
Importance of Evaluating Patients during Emergency as Per the EMTALA Guidelines
It will be imperative for the hospital to continue evaluating patients for treatment as per the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act ( EMTALA ) guidelines (Moy & Moffat, 2012) . The Federal statute requires that all people going to the emergency department to be stabilized as well as treated (Moy & Moffat, 2012) . That is regardless of the status of their insurance or ability to pay for essential healthcare treatment. By complying with these guidelines, the hospital will not be penalized for EMTALA violation which could subject the hospital to civil lawsuits of up to $50,000 per violation (Moy & Moffat, 2012) .
Effective Measures of Maintaining an Efficient Electronic Medical System During the Emergency
Performing a system backup for the electronic medical record (EHR) system should be a primary measure employed by the hospital to ensure that all treatment operations during the emergency situation will be executed effectively. The EHR backup should be done on a different server on a database that is different from the one currently under use in the hospital. In the event of a failure in the current EHR system, the hospital’s information and technology (IT) personnel must ensure that they have a direct access to the second server. Additionally, this way all the essential patient health information (PHI) that will be crucial for the treatment of patients at the hospital will be retrieved with ease.
Second, installing a power backup unit specifically for the servers hosting the hospital’s EHR will also be an important aspect of ensuring the accessibility of PHI during the emergency event. The emergency power backup unit will have to be configured in such a way that it will initiate its operation immediately after the regular power source discontinues. In addition, sufficient diesel to run the power backup unit will have to be in place to ensure that the system remains operational for a minimum of 48 hours after the regular power source fails. The period will offer the hospital sufficient time to restock fuel for the power backup generator in the event the primary source of power is still unavailable.
Lastly, an alternative standby efficient internet connectivity framework to go along with the back server will have to be installed for easy transmission of patients’ data to the hospitals EHR systems. The measure will ensure that the hospital’s personnel will be in a position to receive the patients’ information on time to facilitate an easy implementation of interventions. Moreover, the suppliers of internet connectivity must be different from the current service providers to create an option for the hospital in the event of connectivity failures. Also, the internet connection must be fast and reliable – with no downtime – to promote the efficiency and effectiveness of its services.
Decision to Adopt Health Insurance
In the event that the anticipated disaster occurs, the hospital should be ready to accept health insurance covers from patients. That is because a large number of patients might be admitted at the hospital with no instant access to cash that can pay for essential emergency medical services. In such a scenario, it will be advisable for the hospital to accept insurance payment methods from clients so that they can initiate major treatment options that might save lives. Second, the hospital will stand to make vast profits for its services to patients if they accept insurance payments. That is because, with insurance payments, patients will afford complex and financially intensive treatment options that they would have otherwise not had if only cash payment is accepted at the hospital.
Example, a terror attack victim who might require an immediate operation to control their level of internal bleeding – a life-threatening state – might use an insurance policy to pay a large number of treatment fees. Subsequently, such multiple medical operations might offer the hospital substantial revenue. Lastly, by accepting insurance payments, the hospital will be able to offer a vast range of treatments, which they do not offer on a regular basis, to victims of the terror attack. For instance, due to the availability of treatment fees through insurance policies, the hospital will be able to hire external specialists who can offer specialized treatment interventions to the terror attack victims.
Effects of the Attack on Impeding Quality of Care Offered to the Patients
The terror attack might affect the quality of care offered to patients at the healthcare facility. That is because a large number of patients might be admitted to the hospital and all of them may require immediate treatment. As a result, the patient: doctors ratio at the hospital might increase and as such make the healthcare practitioners overwhelmed by offering essential healthcare services to the public. In such a case, nursing personnel attached to the admitted and outpatient patients at the hospital will be forced to look after multiple patients at once. Subsequently, this will lower the quality standards of care to the public.
Conclusion
In conclusion, disaster management is an imperative measure that should be executed by all healthcare organizations to mitigate the adverse effects of a disaster. The process entails predicting and where possible preventing as well as mitigating the impact of the unfavorable occurrence on a random demographic. Disaster preparedness is part of disaster management and they are the measures are undertaken by healthcare organizations to prepare for an unforeseen emergency situation. In preparing for the anticipated terror attack, the public hospital must enforce the four services of public health services, which include educating and empowering patients about their healthcare issues and identifying and solving clients’ medical issues. Also, the hospital will be required to enforce policies and regulations for protecting patients’ health and also strive to maintain a competent healthcare workforce. Strategies that should be adopted to maintain an efficient EHR system during an emergency should include performing a system backup for the EHR, installing a power backup unit and acquiring an alternative internet connection. Accepting insurance payment from patients will enable the hospital to secure large profits for its services and also be in a position to treat a range of medical needs by hiring external specialists. Ultimately, the high population of patients that might be admitted at the hospital may compromise the quality of healthcare services issued due to the large patients to doctors’ ratio.
References
Acton, A. Q. (2013). Issues in Nursing Research, Training, and Practice: 2013 Edition. Atlanta: ScholarlyEditions.
Butts, J. B., & Rich, K. L. (2015). Nursing Ethics. Burlington: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Lundy, K. S., & Janes, S. (2014). Community Health Nursing: Caring for the Public's Health. New York City: Springer.
Moy, M. M., & Moffat, J. C. (2012). The EMTALA Answer Book, 2013 Edition. New York: Aspen Publishers.
