Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
to avoid exhaustion and compromised func-
tioning of those in response roles?
7. How will the institution handle community
members who may seek shelter in the hospital
during an emergency? Is the institution able
to designate specific areas for such people?
Are these areas away from patient areas, and
away from staging and other areas that might
interfere with the emergency response? Does
the institution have the resources to feed and
shelter such people? If not, how would it
handle the influx, and where would it send
these people? Will it need to contact its local
police precinct around this issue?
8. How will the institution handle an influx of
individuals seeking relatives who might be
unidentified patients?
9. Does the organization have a security plan in
place for crowd control and other needed secu-
rity measures?
for conducting operations during the emergency.
19
The Operations Section Chief is responsible for
whatever services are being provided during
the emergency, and frequently oversees a fairly
large number of operational leaders responsible
for specific areas, such as Decontamination,
Emergency Services, Inpatient Services, and the
Operating Room.
20
Some key issues facing the
Operations Section Chief include the following.
A. Isolation and Quarantine
Government authorities may exercise police
powers in an emergency situation, including the
isolation of infected individuals and quarantine of
healthy individuals who may have been exposed to
an infectious agent. For a disease listed in federal
Executive Order 13295 as communicable and quar-
antinable, the U.S. government has jurisdiction to
apprehend, detain, and conditionally release indi-
viduals to stop its interstate spread or international
importation, and need not wait for an interstate
spread actually to occur before acting.
21
Thus, it
is important for healthcare providers to coordinate
isolation and quarantine measures with federal,
state, and local authorities.
H. Recorder/Transcriber
The Recorder/Transcriber maintains records of
any actions taken as directed by the Inci-
dent Commander, as well as any significant
event that may occur during the crisis. The
Recorder/Transcriber assures continuous flow of
and access to information for Command Center
staff.
1. What are the local, regional, state, and national
plans for handling a sudden influx of patients
who may require decontamination as a result of
having been exposed to chemical, biological,
or radiological agents?
2. Does the Incident Commander have the
authority to implement decontamination, isola-
tion, or quarantine measures? If not, who does?
Who needs to be informed in the event that
such measures are implemented?
3. Has the organization engaged in isolation or
quarantine planning with local and regional
public health officials in order to understand
what will be expected or demanded if isolation
or quarantine is ordered?
1. Has the organization provided for a
recorder/transcriber in the event of an emer-
gency?
2. How will the records of any incident response
be used during debriefing to inform the orga-
nization's planning for future readiness?
III. Operations (Red)
The Operations Section Chief reports directly to
the Incident Commander, and has responsibility
19
See
North Carolina Hosp. Ass'n,
supra
note 4.
20
Field Operations Guide,
supra
note 13, at 7-2.
21
42 U.S.C. ยง 264 (2004).
