The report, “Healthcare Preparedness Capabilities: National Guidance for Healthcare System Preparedness,” suggests healthcare organizations and relevant stakeholders should develop a plan to maximize surge capacity for medical surge incidents. Some components of this plan may include the following:
• Surge assessment.
• Decompression (clear) of critical beds.
• Locally available resource assistance (mobile equipment and caches of supplies).
• Alternate surge sites (healthcare organization or healthcare coalition).
• Alternate care sites.
• Coordination to address mass death in healthcare facilities.
• Volunteers and other staff resources.
• Crisis standards of care.
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