Page 28 - Occupational Health & Safety, November 2017

HEALTH CARE
cess. A TJC accredited organization is required to conduct two full- scale exercises by the Nov.15 deadline.
CMS has provided some examples that health care organiza- tions could use for their tabletop or full-scale, community -based exercises. Some examples to consider are:
■ Earthquakes
■ Tornadoes
■ Hurricane
■ Flooding
■ Fires
■ Cybersecurity attack
■ Single-facility disaster (power outage)
■ Medical surge (i.e., community disaster leading to influx of
patients)
■ Infectious disease outbreak
■ Active shooter
Regardless of the type of drill or actual emergency, the response
to the event must be analyzed. Documentation of all drills, tabletop exercises, and actual emergency events must be maintained. Then, organizations must go back to their emergency plan and make ad- justments based on feedback received.
What’s Next?
All organizations will need to conduct a comprehensive review of
the current state of their emergency preparedness training pro- gram to identify next steps required to be in compliance with the final rule. Trade associations can help you stay informed and aware of standard changes. Networking with other health care organiza- tions and building strong partnerships with contractors and ven- dors are very beneficial.
It has long been understood that the health care industry is one of the most—if not the most—regulated industry in the United States. For most hospitals, many of the basic requirements of this final rule are currently implemented but need to be assessed and modified for compliance. For some health care organizations, it will require additional time and resources to get their facilities up to par with this rule. There are plenty of resources to assist with compliance. CMS, TJC, American Society of Healthcare Engineers (ASHE), and other consulting networks have a wealth of informa- tion to aid in assessing your emergency preparedness training pro- gram to make sure you are ready for Nov. 15!
John M. Eliszewski, MS, CSP, HACCP, QSSP is a Corporate Safety Sales Manager at Grainger, a leader in safety services and solutions, offering technical support and training to help customers comply with workplace safety regulations and safeguard facilities. For more infor- mation on creating a safer working environment, visit http://safety. grainger.com.
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