Welcome to Bluffton Regional Medical Center

Emergency Operations Plan - Emergency Communication & Notifications

INTERNAL & STAFF NOTIFICATION LEVELS

During an emergency:

1.The Incident Commander will notify the Bluffton Regional Medical Center switchboard operator to alert the staff of the emergency by announcing a code, via overhead page.

2.The staff is also notified through alternate announcements including intra-net messages and personal communication devices (e. g., pagers, walkie-talkies, and cellular telephones) as well as Call Lists and overhead paging conducted by the switchboard operator.

3.Alternate communication to staff may include notification through the Public Information Officer by radio or television, dependent on the procedures.

4.Communications systems may include the following:

a.Internal telephone system: Internal communications will be limited to disaster-related issues once emergency has been initiated. THE OPERATOR SHOULD NOT BE CALLED FOR INFORMATION.

b.Radios: Communications Unit Leader will determine location and availability of radios and report to the Logistics Chief so distribution of radios can be determined.
c.Alpha-numeric pagers, email, public address system, inter-departmental radios, inter-hospital radio network, fax, cellular telephones, runners, and RACES (i. e., Ham radio operators).

STAFF NOTIFICATION CODE ALERTS

DEPARTMENT CALL LIST INFORMATION

HICS Form 258 shall be completed prior to the emergency to ensure all contacts and phone numbers are available when needed. The list of contacts below includes primary contacts.

List of External Contacts

NOTIFICATION & COMMUNICATION WITH EXTERNAL AUTHORITIES
1.All appropriate external authorities will be notified to facilitate effective response, continuing operations, and recovery from an emergency that disrupts the normal patient care and/or business operations of the organization

2.When an emergency plan is initiated, the appropriate external authorities and community resources will be notified

3.External authorities include, but are not limited to:

Office of Emergency Management (OEM) - 260-824-6433
Fire Department - 911
Law enforcement agencies - 911
EMS - 911
Emergency Management Agency - 260-824-6433
Centers for Disease Control - 260-824-6489
Red Cross of America - 638-4673 or 241-7572
Media organizations - 824-0224

4.The Public Information Officer (PIO) has the responsibility for media and public information as it pertains to an event that involves the hospital.  The PIO has established working relationships with local media, emergency management office, and public health prior to an event.  The PIO regularly attends meetings with the systems that would establish a joint information center (JIC).  The information that will go out to the community will come from the JIC as a unified message to the area (NIMS Element 4).

5.If the hospital is involved solely during an event, the PIO in the Hospital Command Center will communicate with the community or local media.

COMMUNICATION WITH PATIENTS & FAMILY
A Family Support Center/Family Information Center is established to coordinate the needs and information to family members of patients, to coordinate the information of the location of patients, and to provide critical incident stress debriefings.

The Family Support Center/Family Information Center shall be located in the CNC Main Lobby.   This room will serve as the location for relatives and friends of patients that have arrived at the hospital for treatment.

1.Under the Logistics Section with the Support Branch, the Family Unit Leader establishes procedures for the patient's families.

2.The availability of medical, logistic and mental health and day care for the families of staff members should be ensured.  Mass prophylaxis / vaccination / immunization of family members should be coordinated, if required.

3.There is direct communication with the Patient Tracking Manager

4.The immediate emergency contact family member that is not present with the patient will be contacted with the location of the patient once they are moved.

BACKUP COMMUNICATIONS
The Bluffton Regional Medical Center will maintain a current listing of backup communication systems or devices.  The communication devices or systems should be tested on a regular basis at least twice yearly  and be included in exercises.

A listing of all communication of primary or secondary communication systems or devices should be listed below:

1.Alpha-numeric or digital pagers may be considered as backup communications.

2.Email will only be as available as the infrastructure is working.

3.The overhead address or paging system cannot be tied into the telephone or fire system only.  These systems should work independently in case of infrastructure damage.

4.Inter-departmental radios or inter-hospital radio networks may be used as backup communication.  Training must be achieved along with an instruction card attached for those that do not use the equipment often.

5.Fax machines may be used as backup as long as some are on the emergency power.

6.Ham radios may be used either with internal or external operators.

7.Cellular telephones or Blackberries have proven to shut down quickly during a natural or large-scale disaster.  The facility must be under the G.E.T.S. program for their hospital issued cell phones or blackberries.  This will ensure priority of connection during a disaster.

8.Runners will take some staffing requirements that may be otherwise short.

The HICS form, HICS 205 � INCIDENT COMMUNICATIONS LOG (INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL), can be used prior to an event for a listing of internal and external phone numbers.  This form is also used during an event when it is determined what communications are available at the time.

COMMUNICATION WITH PURVEYORS
Bluffton Regional Medical Center has developed a list of purveyors, including vendors, contractors, and consultants that can provide specific services before, during, and after an emergency event.  The list will be maintained by the  Materials Management Supervisor and updated periodically.  Where appropriate, Memoranda of Understandings (MOUs) are developed needed to help facilitate services during the time of a community event. (HICS form 258)

COMMUNICATION WITH OTHER HEALTHCARE ORGANIZATIONS
The healthcare organizations and alternative care sites that are located within the Wells County & Northern Indiana areas � reasonable travel distance to the facility have a working relationship with Bluffton Regional Medical Center before an event occurs.  This occurred through a direct Mutual Aid agreement (MAA) with each individual hospital or town, borough, parish, county, and/or regional hospital group (NIMS Element 8).  Form III can be used to document this information.

The key information to share with the other healthcare organizations would be:

Command structures & other command centers information

Names & roles of command center structure

Resources & assets to be potentially shared

Process for the dissemination of patient & deceased individual names for tracking purposes

In order for the RHCC and/or other healthcare organizations to establish communications, they have existing systems in place for interoperability since an event may disable one or more communication methods, resulting in limited communication resources. The RHCC had established a Private network of T1 phone lines, HAM radio operator system, etc to ensure that secondary communication is accessible during an event. This should ensure some interoperability with other organizations (NIMS Element 16).

The patient information and the names of the deceased that may be shared with the other healthcare organizations, local or state health departments, or other law enforcement authorities on the whereabouts on patients during an emergency may include patient's name and location. The information shared about the patients and names of the deceased will be in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.

US Patent Numbers 7,720,998 B2, 7,836,207