HEALTHCARE: INCIDENT MANAGEMENT

Initiatives and regulations abound in healthcare to elevate the timeliness and efficacy of response for everything from large scale disasters to specific patient incidents.  Coordinating triage for mass casualties or resources for Door to Balloon events requires communication capabilities that are swift, certain and adaptive.  Timely, systematic response is within reach for:

• Sudden epidemics (e.g. fatal strain of influenza)
• Mass casualty/injury incidents (e.g. building collapse; train derailment)
• Natural Disasters (e.g. hurricane; earthquake)
• Etc.

There are several key steps involved in the life cycle of an incident.  At the forefront of these steps is the accurate, uninterrupted flow of communication.  From alerting response team members of an incident, to sending out a broadcast of “all clear,” the diverse needs of healthcare facilities can be met with a strong communications backbone, bringing them one step closer to regulatory compliance.

TJC – The Joint Commission (formerly JCAHO)
Sets standards for healthcare organizations and issues accreditation to organizations that meet those standards.  TJC conducts periodic on-site surveys to verify that "an accredited organization substantially complies with Joint Commission standards and continuously makes efforts to improve the care and services it provides."

NIMS – National Incident Management System
Provides a systematic, proactive approach to guide departments and agencies at all levels of government, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector to work seamlessly to prevent, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate the effects of incidents, regardless of cause, size, location, or complexity, in order to reduce the loss of life and property and harm to the environment.

HICS – Hospital Incident Command System
Purpose is to standardize responses by all “first responders” to emergency events in a Healthcare environment.

By leveraging communications resources like alert notifications, emergency conferencing and info telephone, hospitals and other healthcare facilities can comply with regulatory standards and prepare for the unexpected.