Emergency prep–it’s more than just compliance

When thinking about recovery efforts from disasters, you should consider Joint Commission (formerly JCAHO) standards EC.4.13 through EC.4.18, aka the six “critical areas” of emergency management:

• Communication
• Resources and assets
• Safety and security
• Staff responsibilities
• Utilities management
• Patient clinical and support activities

A key component of this whole process is coming up with a prioritized approach based on your organization’s real-life challenges. Once you’ve established the priorities, then it’s just a question (OK, with a whole heck of a lot of grunt work) to come up with the plan for each event.

But remember, there may be events for which you’re not going to have to address each of the critical areas, so if you don’t have to do it, don’t feel like there’s some sort of obligation to do so. Your responsibility is to prepare your organization in an appropriate fashion–no more, no less.

And so, when it comes to survey time, take an organized, logical approach to whatever the issue at hand might be.

Ultimately, the acid test is whether you are comfortable that you have prepared the organization to the extent necessary. If you can look yourself in the mirror and say, “We’re in good shape”–knowing full well that perfection in this area is nothing but elusive–then your comfort and confidence will carry the day during survey.

Compliance during survey is way down the list of objectives for this process. Adequate preparation for emergencies is everything, and Joint Commission compliance is a happy byproduct.