You are the Emergency Preparedness Director for an East Coast acute care facility located less than two miles from the shoreline. It is Tuesday afternoon and the latest weather forecast indicates that a Category 1 hurricane is gaining strength in the Atlantic Ocean. The current projections are for the storm to move up the eastern seaboard and begin impacting weather in the area of your facility by Saturday morning. The current projections are for the storm to gain strength to a Category 3 or 4 storm by the time it makes landfall. Your facility CEO is requesting an update on your planning activities by the end of the day. You call a meeting with your Emergency Operations team to begin making preparations for the storm.
Utilizing all you have learned in the course, provide a full summary of your planning activities. Include answers to the following questions:
- What steps have you as the Emergency Preparedness Coordinator taken prior to the storm to be prepared for an effective response?
- What activities should take place between Tuesday afternoon and when the storm arrives to prepare the facility to continue care?
- What communications strategy should be developed to communicate with staff, patients, and the wider public?
- Detail the Continuity of Operations (COOP) plans that should be in place to ensure that patient care is not disrupted.
- Detail the Emergency Recovery plans that should be in place to de-escalate response activities after the storm has passed.
Your response should be a minimum of 750 words. Provide citations to the reference materials to support your answer. Provide a reference page at the end of your response.
