Emergency plans for pandemic get live test
Emergency plans for pandemic get live test
Pay attention to workforce issues
Although no one is happy to see a potential pandemic, the swine flu situation does give home health agencies a chance to test their emergency plans in a real-life situation, points out Phyllis Wang, president of New York State Association of Health Care Providers (HCP), which represents home- and community-based providers in New York. New York agencies are required to have emergency plans in place for a variety of crises, but no real test of plans to address pandemics has occurred until now, she says.
Although her association's member agencies are the ones providing direct care, the association is providing ongoing communication and advice to agencies, says Wang. "We are sending e-mail alerts to members to let them know where to find the latest information, and we are providing inservice materials that agencies can use for staff members," she says. "We've been working on emergency preparedness plans for agencies for many years, so we have tools and resources they can use," she adds.
The Home Care Association of New York State also has focused on emergency preparedness for its members and has included swine flu-specific information on the association's emergency preparedness web site (www.homecareprepare.org), says Alexis Silver, vice president for policy and clinical affairs for the association. "We've offered pandemic flu preparedness seminars and resources over the past three years, so we have re-posted them to the web site so people can review the material," she says. Handouts, infection control guidelines specific to flu and home health settings, and a tabletop exercise to test preparedness are available for free to anyone visiting the site, she points out.
Many of the steps recommended by both associations are basic infection control practices, points out Wang. "Hand washing, gloves, and masks all prevent spread of infection, and we also remind home health staff to re-educate families and patients on the importance of keeping surfaces clean," she says. "A bottle of bleach is essential for cleaning and with the threat of a flu pandemic, we are not talking about just keeping surfaces in the patient's room clean," she adds.
"New York home health agencies learned a lot from 9/11," says Wang. One of those lessons was to anticipate not being able to get to patients due to physical impediments such as streets closed to outside traffic or, in the case of a pandemic, not being able to leave or enter a quarantined area, she points out. "At the state level, we've been working to get home health workers classified as first responders so we can go to our patients, but even without that classification, agencies should have an inventory of skills for all employees," she suggests.
An inventory of skills enables an agency to quickly identify which staff members can care for specialized patients, such as dialysis or pediatric patients, as well as who might have emergency medical technician training, or even construction experience if repairs need to be made to a building, says Wang. "This inventory should be part of an emergency plan," she adds.
The key responsibility of home health managers at this time is to stay on top of current information and communicate with staff and patients, suggests Wang. When communicating, however, be sure you present everything in the proper perspective that reassures people and prepares them, she suggests. "It's important to inform everyone of the facts, but remember that there is a line between informing and frightening."
Sources
For information on home care association involvement in pandemic plans, contact:
Alexis Silver, Vice President for Policy and Clinical Affairs, Home Care Association of New York State, 194 Washington Avenue, Suite 400, Albany, NY 12210. Phone: (518) 426-8764. Fax: (518) 426-8788. E-mail: [email protected].
Phyllis Wang, President, New York State Association of Health Care Providers, 99 Troy Road, Suite 200, East Greenbush, NY 12061. Phone: (518) 463-1118. Fax: (518) 463-1606. E-mail: [email protected].
Although no one is happy to see a potential pandemic, the swine flu situation does give home health agencies a chance to test their emergency plans in a real-life situation, points out Phyllis Wang, president of New York State Association of Health Care Providers (HCP), which represents home- and community-based providers in New York.Subscribe Now for Access
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