Disaster and Pandemic Preparedness: Is Your Organization Ready?
May 31, 2007

From the possibility of an avian flu outbreak to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the need for pandemic and disaster planning has been well documented in recent years. Still, some health care organizations lack the basic knowledge to begin such a plan. The Ohio Advocates for Health Care Access held a disaster and pandemic preparedness meeting with several presenters to provide its members with the information necessary to begin their planning.

James J. James, M.D., director of the American Medical Association Center for Public Health Preparedness and Disaster Response, served as the keynote speaker. The panel that followed Dr. James was comprised of Carol Jacobson, RN and director of Emergency Management for the Ohio Hospital Association; Ted Kwiatkowski, manager of business recovery services at American Electric Power; and Steve Gruetter, director of Platform Lab.

Dr. James shared information about the American Medical Association’s preparations to address the health response to and recovery from catastrophic events. In less than three years, the Center has received more than $2 million in grant funding and has overseen the development and deployment of the National Disaster Life Support suite of courses. Presentations are posted to the right, but below are a few highlights from each presenter.

Dr. Jim James:

  • No matter what specialty or practice, all physicians, health care professionals, and public health workers need to be prepared to respond to emergency situations and the recovery that follows.
  • Public and private sectors do not hold the responsibility of public health preparedness individually—it is the collective responsibility of all these components that comprise the health system and the individuals within them.
  • The goal of the AMA is to provide a vehicle, or platform, for all health professionals to display skills and knowledge that are required in the event of a disaster.

Carol Jacobson:

  • The Ohio Hospital Association goals are aimed at a statewide improvement with direct, strategic initiatives on how to properly plan for a pandemic disaster.
  • There are no national initiatives to provide money for pandemic disaster planning. Most money is going to vaccines.
  • Healthcare is not limited to just hospitals. Home health and hospice, skilled nursing facilities, federally qualified help centers, outpatient and ambulatory facilities, and free standing emergency rooms are other professions that need money to be specifically trained in the event of a disaster.
  • Hospitals are taking their own initiative and planning individually and regionally. Training programs to enhance response capabilities have been established.

Ted Kwiatkowski:

From a non-related health care organization, Mr. Kwiatkowski shared American Electric Power’s policies and plans being created in the event of a pandemic disaster.

  • American Electric Power is one of the largest electric utilities in the U.S covering over eleven states. AEP has been designated as a critical infrastructure essential service provider by Homeland Security.
  • If the electric were to go out during a pandemic disaster the hospitals would not be able to help the people infected, or the spread of the disease.
  • What is worse than planning for a pandemic? Having to explain why you did not have a plan when the disaster happened.

Steve Gruetter:

  • Platform Lab is an IT resource that is unique to Ohio. An on-demand non-profit IT resource providing: hardware, software/operating systems, 1 Gb Bandwidth via OSCnet, and configuration/network/set up.
  • Platform Lab is often used for disaster recovery plan validation and troubleshooting. For example, a private investigator paid off a hospital employee for medical records. Platform Lab was able to provide a variety of technological uses to prevent any more of a crisis and figure out who the hospital employee was.

Hospital Preparedness for Pandemic Influenza (.ppt 16MB)
Carol Jacobson, RN
Director Emergency Management
Ohio Hospital Association

Platform Lab and the Ohio Healthcare/IT community (.ppt)
Steve Gruetter
Director
Platform Lab

Disaster and Pandemic Preparedness: Is Your Organization Ready? (.ppt)
Ted Kwiatkowski
Manager Business Recovery Services
American Electric Power

Disaster Medicine & Public Health Preparedness (.ppt 6MB)
James J. James, MD, DrPH, MHA
Director
Center for Public Health Preparedness & Disaster Response

Photos

Click on a thumbnail to view the full image in a new window:

Dr. Jim James discusses the American Medical Association’s efforts to help other health care organizations prepare for and recover from catastrophic events.
Carol Jacobson, RN and director of Emergency Management for the Ohio Hospital Association; addresses the audience about the association’s comprehensive approach to pandemic planning at Ohio’s hospitals.
Steve Gruetter, director of Platform Lab; Ted Kwiatkowski, manager of business recovery services at American Electric Power; and Carol Jacobson, RN and director of Emergency Management for the Ohio Hospital Association talk about their organizations’ approaches to pandemic planning and how they can benefit other health care entities.

© 2006, Ohio Advocates for Health Care Access