The Joint Commission published a safety advisory to help healthcare facilities continue operations during disasters.
The advisory aims to provide hospitals with continuity of operations planning resources, so they can continue patient care services during emergencies, including power failures, fires, floods, industrial accidents and cyberattacks.
The advisory offers safety actions to consider, such as:
• Planning and documenting leadership succession
• Identifying key functions, capabilities and assets that need to be protected
• Working with local emergency management agencies to implement a plan for effective communications during disasters
The advisory highlights resources from HHS, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore and the Health Information and Management Systems Society.