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COMM 633 Crisis Management Plan - Hospital System

The document outlines Carolinas Medical Center's crisis management plan, which includes pre-crisis planning for potential emergencies like weather disasters, pandemics, and hospital-specific issues. It details stakeholders to coordinate with during a crisis and establishes an Incident Operations Center to centralize command and communications. The plan emphasizes open communication, frequent testing, and learning from experiences to ensure flexible crisis response.

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Liz Horgan
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1K views6 pages

COMM 633 Crisis Management Plan - Hospital System

The document outlines Carolinas Medical Center's crisis management plan, which includes pre-crisis planning for potential emergencies like weather disasters, pandemics, and hospital-specific issues. It details stakeholders to coordinate with during a crisis and establishes an Incident Operations Center to centralize command and communications. The plan emphasizes open communication, frequent testing, and learning from experiences to ensure flexible crisis response.

Uploaded by

Liz Horgan
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Crisis Management Plan

Carolinas Medical Center


Carolinas HealthCare System

By: Katie Dever and Liz Horgan

COMM 633 Summer 2009 Larry Grayson

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Pre-Crisis Planning – Carolinas Medical Center (CMC)
Prodromes and other possible crises:

• Terrorist attack in Charlotte (Code Triage)

• Weather disaster (Hurricane Hugo, flooding, etc.) (Code Green)

• Pandemic

• Nuclear disaster (leak or compromise of McGuire Nuclear Plant) (Code Triage)

• Massive energy failure (black out in the Northeast with failure of the power grid in
2003 or rolling brown outs like in CA) (Code Black)

• Fuel shortages/crisis

• Water system/sources poisoned

• Plane Crash (Code Triage)

• Financial Crash

• Communications failure – hackers, Internet crash, Intranet compromised, phone


system shut down (Computer Conference, Paging Conference, Telephone
Conference)

• Hospital-only crises:

o Suspicious Package/Bomb (Code Yellow)

o Fire (Code Red)

o Infant Abduction (Code Pink)

o Hazardous Material / Waste Spill (Code Orange)

o Workplace Violence (Code Gray)

o Piped Oxygen Failure (Code Brown)

o Missing Patient (Nursing Conference)

o Computer failure (Computer Conference)

o Staff negligence

Pre-Crisis Planning:

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• Work on hospital culture with open communications between management, medical
professionals and all staff with a goal of a safe work environment.

• Embrace and work towards good media relations through Communications


Department and Public Relations

• Designate committees for managing Crisis Management Plan (CMP), including the
Crisis Communications Plan. Make plans available to all employees via the CHS
intranet site.

• Test CMP frequently, making sure all staff (clinical and non-clinical) are aware of
code notification and response.

• Learn from the tests and ensure crisis management plan is flexible is dynamic so
that the CMP development process is on-going.

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Stakeholders:

• Existing patients and their families

• Staff and their families

• New patients (i.e. future customers)

• Media

• CMPD/First Responders (fire, police)

• Medic

• Transportation resources: CATS (emergency transportation), LYNX, Yellow Cab

• NC Hospital Association (which involves member hospitals throughout NC)

• Public Health (an entity of CHS)

• Governmental organizations (FEMA, etc.)

• Group Purchasing Organization (supplies)

• The general public

Incident Operations Center (IOC)

The IOC will be activated in the event any emergency “Code” is called. CHS-IOC:
Carolinas HealthCare System (CHS) Incident Operations Center (IOC) serves as a
command and communications center for CHS Support/Logistical groups. During
Priority 1 events the primary location for the CHS-IOC will be CMC–HCC (Dining Room
Number 1) with a secondary/back-up site at the Data Center (location removed for
security purposes).

• Activation - Administrator on call (AOC) (or designee) determines crisis mode


activation and priority level.

o Employees know, when notified, to switch to crisis mode and to route things
through the Command Center.

o Code-related information is provided annually during on-line education and


is also provided on the back of every employee’s badge as a quick reference.

• Location – primary is at main CMC campus, alternative at the Data Center.


Additional mobile units can be dispatched directly to an external disaster site.

• Communications –

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o Hardware: The Command Center has multiple TVs, computers, pagers,
phones, air phones, access to Intranet and Internet.

o Incoming Communications/Gathering Information about the Crisis

 CHS Security personnel are highly trained to interface with the police
dept. and are a first line of information coming into the Command
Center.

 The Administrator on Call (AOC) is the individual responsible for


making “priority level” determinations and for dispatching standard
communications.

 Established protocols and policies in place to drive communications


out of the hospital to key stakeholders.

o Outgoing Communications – To Internal Stakeholders (employees)

 Phone tree

 Intranet

 Email

 Voicemail

o Outgoing Communications – To External Stakeholders

 Communications Department and IOC are primary sources of


communication to external sources.

 Dark Internet Site available to redirect questions, reassure, help locate


casualties, and go into detail about how to get to Care locations in a
crisis

 White Board in IOC – updated constantly and run by spokespeople


with goals of up-to-date information and consistent message

After the Crisis

Arrange and coordinate a debriefing at the conclusion of the disaster.

References

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For purposes of developing this Crisis Management Plan, CMC’s crisis policies and
procedures were utilized.

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