1 home health care: the invisible workforce with a major role in disaster preparedness barbara b....

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Home Health Care: The Invisible Workforce with a Major Role in Disaster Preparedness

Barbara B. Citarella RN, MS, CHS-III RBC Limited

Zachary Goldfarb, EMT-P, CHSP, CEM

Incident Management Solutions, Inc.

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Why is Home Health Care Important to All Hazards Planning?

Surge capacity Domino Theory of Healthcare ™ Underutilized personnel Extraordinary workforce

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Home Care’s Role in Previous Disasters

1918 flu pandemic September 11th

Hurricanes Katrina & Rita

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Home Care’s Role in Future Events

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Role of Home Care in Future Events

Primary player in response Containment- preventing transmission

and case identification Syndromic surveillance Community education Ventilator care/ hi tech

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Role of Home Care in Future Events

Surge capacity- admissions from not only the hospital but from the community

Think out of the box- cohorting Telehealth use Medication distribution Vaccinations

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What has home care done to date?

Grants Drills Conferences Resources

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What does home care need for effective planning?

Part of large scale planning De-regulation in emergency

situations Not to be invisible Avoid siloization Technology

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HOME CARE State funding for pandemic

preparedness Home care being written into pandemic

response plans in all 50 states Give home care a fair allocation of

resources to step to the plate

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Home CareEmergency Management Planning

NIMS / ICS compliance All-hazards approach Not “all or nothing” Driven by incident management

objectives Leadership by the Incident

Commander Frequent activation is free training!

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Assessment and Organization

Supplemental notifications Assessment of event and

organizational status Identification of incident objectives Development of the ICS organization The EOC Incident action planning Non-managerial staff actions

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Response Clinical oversight Patient priority services HIPAA policy during emergencies Just-in-time education Logistics Planning Safety and security Business continuity External integration

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Staffing Commitment and preplanning Notifications Reporting locations Off-duty personnel Augmentation /

mobilization Staff support Psychological support Dependent care

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Critical Communications 24x7 Contact and decision authority Call down lists Hot lines and web sites Alternate communications

technologies Default communications

failure plan Communications drills

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Patient Roster

Patient and caregiver contact information Patient triage priority level Patient transportation assistance level Geographical sort, e.g., zip code Patients on life support Other critical first responder information

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De-escalation andIncident Termination

Demobilization Termination of incident Stand-down

notifications Recovery and

resumption of normal activities

Critique, evaluation, and after-action review

© 2007, Incident Management Solutions, Inc.

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Community Integration Hospitals

Home care coordinators Intake and surge control

Public Health / bioevent scenarios Syndromic surveillance Mass immunization Congregate care

Home Care Mutual Aid Inter-program coordination

© 2007, Incident Management Solutions, Inc.

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Client Emergency Preparedness

Intake assessment / client-based HVA Emergency contacts Geographic alternate care provider Shelter and evacuation needs identified Patient and caregiver/family education Emergency Plan and preparedness

tools Critical event needs / strategies Go Kit and Stay (SIP) Kit

© 2007, Incident Management Solutions, Inc.

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Conclusion We can – and must – close the gap Information is power … inform and

empower staff, clients, and partners

Embrace opportunities to activate the ICS plan

Benchmark best practices,then improve them

Champions wanted … Leadership support is the key© 2007, Incident Management Solutions, Inc.

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Resources

RBC LimitedHealthcare and Management

Consultants www.rbclimited.com

Incident Management Solutions, Inc.Emergency Management Consultantswww.IMScommand.com