EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
The key to successfully navigating a disaster that impacts the practice or community is to commit to developing a practice or hospital emergency and con- tinuity of operations plan. This is a deliberate pro- cess that should consider the types of disasters that occur, and the variety of hazards present in each practice and the community. It is helpful to sepa- rate the types of disasters into no-notice versus those incidents in which advance notice of an im- pending event is provided.
● No-notice event: These can be separated into those incidents that are clinic-centric and inci- dents in which the incident is external to the clinic or practice. —Clinic-centric: The best example of a clinic- centric incident is a fire involving a practice’s structure. —External to clinic: Examples include flash- flooding, explosions, wildfires, and torna- does. The TexasA&MVET has been involved in responses to each of these types of incidents.
● Advance-notice event: The best example of an advance notice event is a hurricane or win- ter storm. Weather forecasters monitor for these systems and provide advance warning for a significant amount of time prior to ar- rival. This provides the opportunity to miti- gate risks associated with the impending incident.
Developing a Clinic or Hospital Emergency Plan
The following discussion will provide an overview of the process for developing an emergency plan for veterinary medical practices or hospitals. This is a complex process and a full discussion is beyond the scope of what can be provided in these proceedings. There are multiple resources available to provide guidance you through the process.8–12
Define Your Practice
The initial step in developing an emergency practice plan is to fully define the practice. This may seem counterintuitive, but it is easy to overlook key is- sues. Addressing the following issues or areas will allow you to have an accurate representation of the practice.
● Personnel and clients: Identifying these two populations will identify the number of people who may respond on behalf of the practice and the number of non-employees for whom the practoce has the responsibility of providing for their safety. A third population to consider incorporating into the planning process is ex- ternal contractors who provide specific services for the practice on a contractual or as-needed basis.
● Patients: The number of out-patient and hos- pitalized animals should be calculated. The authors prefer basing this on maximum capac-
ity as it prepares the practice to deal with the worst-case scenario.
● Data information system: Identify the sys- tems used for management of patient records, financial accountability, and maintaining other important information such as employee records and insurance papers. The authors prefer electronic systems that are either cloud based or have an automated off-site backup feature.
● Equipment: Develop a list of all equipment and include brand, serial numbers, date of pur- chase, purchase price, and place of pur- chase. It can be helpful to keep photographs of equipment as well.
● List of resources that are available to be used as emergency response assets. This particu- lar point is inward facing and intended to iden- tify resources that may be used to respond on behalf of the practice rather than resources that may be used to respond as an agent of a local jurisdiction.
● Pharmaceutical and medical supply inventory: This inventory is rarely static and varies day to day. Electronic inventory systems provide the ability to maintain inventory awareness on a “real-time” basis, particularly when they are part of the medical records system.
● Contact information: Maintain a current list of emergency and service provider num- bers. This should include law-enforcement agencies, regulatory agencies, and the Office of Emergency Management.
● As-built drawings for owned buildings: These will be helpful if a practice is damaged or de- stroyed because of an emergency or disaster incident.
● Financial projections for maintaining the li- quidity of the practice based on pre-incident conditions.
Identify Risks
Risk identification or hazards analysis is a key com- ponent to developing an emergency plan for veteri- nary practices. It involves identifying those risks that are inherent in the vicinity of the practice. This process should include man-made and natural disasters, with infectious disease incidents being in- cluded under natural disasters. Man-made events may be classified as technological (power outages, chemical releases) or intentional (Terror attacks, mass shootings and other deliberate actions). It is important to include transportation accidents given the number of animals and volume of hazardous materials that are transported on highway and rail systems. It is also advisable to contact local juris- diction’s Office of Emergency Management as they will know of hazards that many may not be aware of. It may also be helpful to separate the risks into the following categories; those that are limited to the practice (e.g., structure fires) and those that have a
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