AGENCY NAME

SUBJECT:EMERGENCY/DISASTER POLICY

PURPOSE:To establish a plan that will be implemented in the event of an emergency, severe inclement weather, and/or a natural disaster. To decrease confusion during an emergency situation, city or Agency wide. To provide employees with a procedure to follow when situations occur that effect their ability to easily travel to and from patient homes.

POLICY:All staff shall receive instructions in planning for an emergency and the plan established to insure the care of their patients. It is the expectation that all staff will report to work.

Procedure:

  1. All staff shall receive instruction during orientation and from their manager in planning for an emergency or disaster. An emergency may include occurrences such as: natural disasters, i.e., floods, earthquakes, storms or fires; communications systems failures, i.e., disruption of telephone service; loss of personnel, i.e. due to labor dispute, local disaster, or epidemic; and/or damage to the facility, i.e., from a fire. The VNA will use the City of Boston’s declaration of a State of Emergency as a guide.
  1. All managers will establish a telephone list of all staff reporting to them in the event of an emergency or disaster. Employees will use the level of the emergency to guide them on whether to report to work as usual, or expect a call regarding assignment.
  1. The following procedures will be implemented after the President or his/her designee has declared an emergency/disaster.
  1. In the event of an emergency, severe inclement weather, and/or natural disaster, the plan should be as follows:

General:

  • The President contacts the Vice-Presidents who call their Directors.
  • The Directors notify their First Line Managers who change their voice mail to include the level of the emergency that the VNA is in, and contact their staff. The level of emergency (Red or Blue) will determine who the clinicians see that day and if they report to the office. All other staff will operate on a predetermined plan according to the level.
  • If a large storm is forecasted visit schedules and chart distribution may be possible on the day/evening before the storm. Clinicians will put extra supplies in their bags and keep their beepers on. It may be necessary to contact staff via home phones the night before.
  • Managers should change their voice mail to include the level of emergency: “The AGENCY NAME is open today however we are operating under a code. Please leave a message and I will return your call as soon as possible,” or a different message may be left to communicate the level and plan of action.
  • The night before a large storm, employees will turn their beepers on in order to be reached for leveling and rearrangement of schedules the day/night before.
  • If there is a local disaster or weather problem (e.g., flood) that causes the closure of one district office, staff are to call the main number for instructions.
  • Each district will have a Disaster Kit maintained by the Unit Manager (or designee). The Disaster Kit will include at least: radio, flashlights, extra batteries, key/code to the supply room, instructions for pulling records, operating the switch board, dialing into the main system, and how to use the emergency phone jack under the front desk. The kit should be stored in an easily accessible non-locked area.

Weekend:

  • Place a star (*) next to patient’s name on weekend list to indicate a high priority. High priority is patients who could be at risk and further compromised if services are not provided. Patients may need to be sent to the Emergency Room if no visit could be made.
  • Prepare patients ahead of time, if poor weather is forecasted, by leaving extra insulin syringes, preparing food and calling family members
  • One Manager/District should plan to bring home all copies of the weekend lists and a list of district staff’s telephone numbers and addresses. This should be a shared responsibility among the District Managers.
  • The Home Health Aide Managers will take home the staff HHA lists and coordinate the HHA service.
  • HHA contract agencies will notify the VNAB status of their HHA’s.
  • The Specialty Program Managers will coordinate specialty services.
  • If an emergency occurs and the Weekend Supervisor is unable to get in, the on-call Weekend Supervisor should be notified.
  • The District Manager, who took home the Weekend lists, will call the 426-5555 number and report to the Night Supervisor or Administrator and be prepared to take calls from staff and patients in their districts.
  • Staff scheduled to work should call the 426-5555 number and they will be connected with the District Supervisor to prioritize patients.
  • Staff who lives in the service area may be called to assist with making home visits in their area.
  • Patients who will not be visited should be called to ensure they are safe and not in need of a visit.
  • The answering service will remain open for the day sending calls to the assigned Supervisor(s).

Weekdays:

  • The above weekend procedure will be followed except that all clinical staff will be expected to take home the names and telephone numbers of all primary patients. They will be responsible for contacting their patients and reporting back to their Supervisor regarding the patient’s status. This will continue for the duration of the emergency.

5.The effectiveness of the Emergency/Disaster Policy will be evaluated after each emergency/disaster. Evaluations must be documented on the Emergency/Disaster Policy Evaluation Form. Managers will evaluate the plan with all their staff and the other Managers in their District at the First District Management meeting after the emergency/disaster. The Emergency/Disaster Policy Evaluations from each District will be reviewed and areas for improvement identified by the Management team in each District. The evaluations will be forwarded to the Quality Improvement Manager for an overall agency evaluation of the Emergency/Disaster Policy

Leveling Emergencies

See the Procedure Section of the Emergency Disaster Policy for the definition of an emergency at the agency.

Numbers in parenthesis may be used in place of color if the code needs to be broadcast to beepers.

Code Red – Major Storm or local disaster that effects the whole city. For example, the city declares a State of Emergency (vs. a Snow Emergency). Situations that would include, but not be limited to, hurricanes, blizzards, or other major situation/storm that would cause public transportation to shut down. Also conditions where roads are closed or impassable.

Employees to turn beepers on by 6:30 am, and be available to be called during the emergency or potential emergency day. Staff should call their managers and leave a message about their personal ability to get to work during the emergency.

  • Only necessary visits are to be made.
  • Communication is necessary to know which clinician is out in the field. (Up to team)
  • Communications necessary to know which patients were seen. (Up to team)
  • Clinicians will not report to the office, may only require phone contact with manager.
  • For pre-warned storms clinicians may prefer to make a travel record of notes, orders, and flow sheets to take to the patient’s home.
  • Clinicians will see patients close to their own home, not necessarily their own patients.
  • Managers may be working out of their home.
  • Contact Manager if computer information is needed. If Manager does not have access to IS, they may contact the Night Manager who has access.
  • HHAs should contact their manager for notification of level. Only necessary cases are to be seen. Others will be rescheduled.

Code Blue – Situations include: City Declares a Snow/Storm Emergency.

  • Only designated patients to be seen.
  • Beepers on, call Manager.
  • Manager will inform if office is open.

Reviewed by:
Date:
Modified by:
Date:

EMERGENCY DISASTER PLAN EVALUATION

District: ______Date of Emergency/Disaster: ______

Complete this form when an emergency/disaster is declared by the President or designee and the Emergency Disaster Plan is implemented. If a process did not occur please explain why.

Procedure / Did
Occur / Did not
Occur / Areas for
Improvement
  • Telephone tree utilized during the emergency/disaster.
  • Staff took home patient information, extra supplies and fully stocked bags.
  • Patients were prepared by staff for emergency/disaster.
  • District Managers called into ( ) _____-______and took calls from patients and staff.
  • HHA Contract Agencies notified the agency of the status of their HHAs.
  • Specialty Managers coordinated specialty services.
  • Staff who live in the area were utilized to make visits.
  • Patients who were not visited were called.
  • Answering service remained open during emergency/disaster sending calls to the assigned manager.
  • How many prioritized patients were canceled? ______
  • Explain why they were canceled and how this can be avoided in the future:
A. Weekday (including evenings) only:
  • Staff prioritized patients by established system.
  • Manager and staff communicated regarding patient status.
  • Home Health Aide Managers brought home Staff HHA telephone lists and coordinated HHA services.
B.Weekend only:
  • Patients prioritized on weekend list.
  • One manager in each district brought home staff and HHA telephone lists.
  • On-Call Manager was called in if Weekend Manager unable to get in.
  • Staff called into ( ) _____-______and received direction from manager.

Report Filed by: ______/ Date: ______