Response to a post:
What are some of the biggest challenges in developing and implementing a preparedness exercise in a hospital setting?
Medical and public health professionals have long been aware of the need for improving coordination between their communities in cases of emergencies (Kaji, Langford, Lewis, (2008). This is a need to prepare the hospital facilities to attend to emergencies with a high success rate. It is very important to develop a hospital Emergency Management Plan (EMP). According to Kaji, Langford, Lewis, (2008), no perfect method can be used in EMP. The plan provides direction for the key stakeholders such as the staff to follow before, during, and after emergencies. It also ensures that the hospital provides essential services in a conducive and safe environment. The absence of a good EMP means a bigger stagnation of this preparedness exercise.
What differences/similarities exist between hospital and municipal preparedness exercises?
There are a lot of differences that municipals and hospitals have regarding preparedness exercise. One of the differences is that both are of different professional backgrounds, as the hospital attend majorly on health emergencies while municipals mostly attend to natural disasters like fire outbreak. Their similarity is that they address one issue which is an emergency call. In most cases, they work together in drilling exercises as sometimes these natural disasters are predictable. If these challenges are addressed, then the preparedness exercise development and implementation in hospitals can be swift and successful.
Refrence
Kaji, A., Langford, V., Lewis, R., (2008, 195-201). Assessing Hospital Disaster Preparedness: A Comparison of an On-Site Survey, Directly Observed Drill Performance, and Video Analysis of Teamwork, Annals of Emergency Medicine.V52
