Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Checklist
is to identify the key legal and oper-
ational issues arising in an emergency in order
to enhance a healthcare provider's emergency
preparedness
9
by demonstrating the connection
between emergency-planning activities and routine
planning, contracting, and operational functions.
By considering the following points, a healthcare
provider will be in a better position to promote
success for the organization as it confronts unex-
pected events.
This
Checklist
should not be construed as legal
advice, however, and does not purport to encom-
pass all possible legal and other issues that may
apply in the event of such an emergency situation;
each crisis presents its own unique circumstances.
Finally, not every crisis will trigger all of the issues
identified in this
Checklist
.
Additionally, public health emergencies have the
potential for far-reaching effects on the U.S. popu-
lation at large, and thus pose unique legal and oper-
ational issues for local health systems. A public
health emergency, as defined in the Model State
Emergency Health Powers Act, is an
its orthopedic unit.
6
The hospital ultimately had
ninety SARS patients, forty-four of them from
the hospital's staff. North York General closed its
doors to any new patients, and had to find ways
to treat those patients who already had or who
developed SARS. Hospital staff assumed signifi-
cant personal risk to treat a new type of disease that
affected their friends and colleagues. They did so
under extraordinarily difficult circumstances that
included a workplace quarantine and the intense
scrutiny of a frightened media and populace.
7
Remember also that, in the summer of 2003,
large portions of New England and the mid-
Atlantic states suffered power outages as a result
of a falling tree limb cutting power lines in
Ohio. Community members flocked to hospitals
across the region for shelter even as the hospi-
tals were operating on emergency-generator power,
canceling elective procedures, and frequently func-
tioning with compromised computer and other
systems. As recently as late summer of 2004, four
hurricanes devastated the state of Florida, causing
the evacuation of local hospitals.
Accordingly, it is vitally important that health-
care providers maintain a constant state of
emergency preparedness to ensure appropriate
response and recovery within the quickest
possible timeframe. Such preparedness encom-
passes four phases: (i) preparation; (ii) mitiga-
tion; (iii) response; and (iv) recovery.
8
Without
proper planning, a crisis for the provider may result
in unintended consequences involving a poten-
tial temporary or permanent business failure, thus
adding a crucial community institution to the list
of the event's casualties. The purpose of this
occurrence or imminent threat of a health condition
caused by bioterrorism or the appearance of a novel
or previously controlled or eradicated infectious agent
or biological toxin, and poses a high probability of a
large number of deaths, serious long-term disabilities,
or significant risk of substantial future harm in the
affected populations.
10
The challenges inherent in quickly identifying the
disease agent, mode of transmission, and best
treatment options significantly affect both the
well-being of healthcare workers
and
the daily
operations of healthcare facilities. This is true
6
See
Susan Kwolek,
Lessons Learned from SARS: The Story of North York General Hospital, in
Am. Health Law. Ass'n, SARS:
Legal and Risk Management Lessons Learned from Toronto to Atlanta Teleconference (Nov. 13, 2003).
7
Id
.
8
National Fire Protection Ass'n,
supra
note 3, ยง 512.
9
For additional information relating to operational issues, please see the following websites: Am. Hosp. Ass'n,
Disaster Readiness,
at
www.hospitalconnect.com/aha/key_issues/disaster_readiness/index.html (last visited Sept. 10, 2004); Ctrs. for Disease Control and
Prevention, Emergency Preparedness and Response,
at
www.bt.cdc.gov(last visited Sept. 10,2004); Greater New York Hosp. Ass'n
(GNYHA), GNYHA Emergency Preparedness Resource Center,
at
www.gnyha.org/eprc (last visited Sept. 10, 2004); Nat'l Disaster
Med. Sys.,
at
http://oep-ndms.dhhs.gov (last visited Sept. 10, 2004); RAND Ctr. for Domestic and Int'l Health Security, What's New,
at
www.rand.org/health/healthsecurity (last visited Sept. 10, 2004).
10
Model State Emergency Health Powers Act (2001),
supra
note 1.
