Facility Operations
Emergency Management Guide for Nursing Homes
Emergency Management Guide for Nursing Homes
The Emergency Management Guide for Nursing Homes assists nursing home administrators, corporate representatives, owners, and key staff in their efforts to develop and maintain a practical all-hazard emergency operations plan. The guide provides an established format for developing a basic plan, offers direction for developing standard operating procedures for use during an emergency, and addresses specific hazards which may threaten a facility.
This guide is a compilation of national emergency management concepts and practices, not a sample emergency operations plan. Each nursing home's emergency operations plan must indicate what that nursing home will do to protect itself from its hazards with the resources it has or can obtain.
This guide is intended primarily for use by nursing home staff responsible for emergency operations plan development and maintenance. It creates no requirements for any nursing home, and its recommendations may be used, adapted, or disregarded, based on a particular facility's own policies and state law.
This guide is issued by the Florida Health Care Association in partnership with the University of South Florida and the Florida Department of Health's Office of Emergency Operations. Funding for the guide's development came through the John A. Hartford Foundation and the FHCA. The planning format is based on the Federal Emergency Management Agency in their Guide for All-Hazards Emergency Operations Planning to be used by jurisdictions at the state and local level. Further, the components set forth in this guide satisfy the basic emergency management requirements of 400, Part II, Florida Statutes, s. 59A-4.126, Florida Administrative Code, as well as the new national recommendations of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Nursing homes may use this guide to supplement guidance they receive from their states.
Contents
Part I The Basic Plan
Defining a Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan
Outline
Administration
Executive Summary
Plan Review and Maintenance
Authorities and References
Introduction
Profile
Purpose
Scope
Situation
Risk Assessment
Zones and Local Points of Interest
Vulnerability Assessment for Residents
Planning Assumptions
Concept of Operations
Alert, Notification, and Activation
Command and Coordination
Command Structure
Communication
Roles/Responsibilities
Evacuation
Sheltering in Place
Host Receiving Site
Training and Exercises
Recovery
Part II Appendices
Appendix A: Emergency Staffing
Appendix B: Emergency Communication Needs
Appendix C: Resident Care Services by Vulnerability Assessment
Appendix D: Vendor Support Communication Chart
Appendix E: Routine Mail Processing
Appendix F: Life Safety and Environmental Evaluation
Appendix G: Incident Command Post Sample Planning Meeting Agenda
Appendix H: All Hazards Staff Response to Emergency
Appendix I: A Staged Implementation of a Resident Identification System
Appendix J: Insured's Guide to Hurricane and other Catastrophic Claims
Appendix K: Resident Survival Kits
Appendix L: Staff Survival Kits
Appendix M: Pet Policies
Appendix N: Employee Staffing Letter and Form
Appendix O: Re-entry to Area Letters or Vehicle Display Passes
Appendix P: Generators and Utilities
Appendix Q: Sample Letter to Families, Guardians, or Responsible Parties
Appendix R: Website References
Appendix S: Glossary of Common Terms and Acronyms
Appendix T: Business Continuity
Appendix U: Supplies, Quantities
Appendix V: Timeline for Disaster Preparedness Activities
Appendix W: Housekeeping Tips
Appendix X: Dietary Department Tips
Appendix Y: Nursing Department Tips
Appendix Z: Guidance for the Safe Transportation of Oxygen
Appendix AA: Emergency Resident Handling
Appendix BB: National Criteria for Evacuation Decision-Making in Nursing Homes
Part III Incident-Specific Hazards
Incident-specific Hazards
Biological Event
Bomb Threat
Earthquake
Extended Power Outages
Extreme Temperatures
Fire
Wildfires
Floods
Hazardous Materials
Severe Weather (Tornados)
Tropical Cyclones (Hurricanes)
Winter Storms
Part IV The Nursing Home Incident Command System
The Nursing Home Incident Command System
A Nursing Home's Introduction to the Incident Command System
Job Action Sheets
Incident Command
Liaison Officer
Public Information Officer
Safety Officer
Operations
Resident Services Branch Director
Nursing Services Unit Leader
Transfer and Discharge Unit Leader
Psychosocial Unit Leader
Social Services Manager
Rehabilitative Manager
Activities Manager
Infrastructure Branch Director
Dietary Services Unit Leader
Environmental Services Unit Leader
Maintenance Unit Leader
Security Unit Leader
Planning
Situation Unit Leader
Documentation Unit Leader
Logistics
Service Branch Director
Communication Hardware Unit Leader
IT/IS Unit Leader
Support Branch Director
Staffing/Scheduling Unit Leader
Facility Supply Unit Leader
Central Supply Unit Leader
Dependent Care Unit Leader
Transportation Unit Leader
Finance/Administration
Business Continuity Unit Leader
Procurement Unit Leader
Cost Unit Leader
Employee Time Unit Leader
Compensation/Claims Unit Leader
Part V Training and Exercises
Training and Exercises
Part VI Federal Regulations
Federal Regulations
Table of Sample Statements
Sample Statement 1 Authorities and References
Sample Statement 2 Alerting Staff
Sample Statement 3 Alerting Family Members
Sample Statement 4 Emergency Coordination
Sample Statement 5 Public Health Integration
Sample Statement 6 Emergency Tracking System
Sample Statement 7 Equipping Supplies for Sheltering in Place
Sample Statement 8 Sheltering Staff Dependents
Sample Statement 9 Notifying and Tracking
