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Best Practice in Emergency Communications. Shelly Raffle, Manager Emergency Response System Visiting Nurse Service of NY HCA Emergency Preparedness Annual Meeting June 10, 2010. Emergency Communications Begins Before Anything Happens. Train Staff Expectations and Response.
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Best Practice in Emergency Communications Shelly Raffle, Manager Emergency Response System Visiting Nurse Service of NY HCA Emergency Preparedness Annual Meeting June 10, 2010
Train Staff Expectations and Response • To pay attention and respond appropriately: • Identifiable/Consistent • Design/style • Sender • Repetition and Frequency • Identify opportunities for communications • Regular testing • Reliable • Accurate, current, helpful, truthful
Planning • Identify realistic, common scenarios • Based on results of your Hazard Vulnerability Assessment • Who needs the information and what do they need to know? • Pre-plan anticipated responses • Message mapping/pre-set communication templates • Ensure redundancies • Develop & test communications tools/messages/plans
What? • Information • Outgoing? Incoming? Both? • Instructional • Are responses needed? • Data Reporting/Sharing • Event/Incident Management
Agency Level Tools • Public Information/Risk Communications • Program/Department Business Continuity Plans • Broadcast Email or Voice mail- one way • Employee Emergency Hotline – one way • Intranet– one way • Internet– one way • Mass Notification System– two way • RISK Hotline – one way, incoming • Agency Coordination/Data Reporting
Broadcast Groups Pre-Set: Company Department/Program Location Region Field Staff AlertFind – MessageOne
RISK Hotline • Triggers Emergency Response Plan / Incident Command Team Activation • Covered 24/7 • On all employee ID cards • Calling RISK incorporated into annual evacuation exercises • Tested six times a year
Incident Management Communications • Internal • Outlook mailboxes by ICS Role & ERS documents • Accessible in or out of office • Text messaging on cell phones enabled for ICS Team • ICS Contact Card – online and wallet versions • Virtual or Physical EOC Activation • Evacuation Team 2-way radios in multi-floor buildings • Clinical and Admin Status Reports – annual testing
Emergency Status Reports • Clinical Programs • Administrative Programs • HCCs • From Outlook Forms or • Hard Copy from Intranet
Incident Management Communications • External • 800 Mhz Radio – OEM • GETS Connectivity • OEM Advanced Warning System • Home Based Care Liaison at NYC OEM • NYS Health Provider Network
Incident Command Team: Communications Roles • Public Information Officer • Media / Risk Communications • Liaison Officer • Agencies/Hospitals/OEM/Health Depts • Interagency Conference Calls • Safety and Security Officer • NYPD • Regional Branch Directors (Operations) • Evacuation Teams (2 way radios) • Clinical Programs Status Report
Incident Command Communications Roles • Human Resources Section Chief • All staff communications • Creates/distributes broadcast emails/voice messages • Updates Employee Information Hotline • Creates/distributes AlertFind notifications • Planning Section Chief • Monitoring situational reports including Advance Warning System postings & mailings • Administration Section Chief • Administration Units Status Reports • HHA Status Data Collection
Incident Command Communications Roles • ERS Manager • Update and manage all plan documents, accounts and permissions • Advises departmental BC planning • Design and conduct tests of plans and procedures, including Communications Plans, Status Reports and RISK Hotline Notifications • OEM HBCTF Representative • Daily monitoring of 800 Mhz radio and primary agency HPN Coordinator
Communications Success • Targeted planning – who? / what? / how? • Identifiable & trustworthy spokespersons • Well-developed BC Plans: default/alternate procedures clearly identified and understood by staff when systems/ communications goes down or facility becomes unavailable • Staff trained and procedures tested routinely • After Action: errors or problems identified quickly – plans modified and updates/changes communicated
Thank you! Shelly Raffle, Manager Emergency Response System Visiting Nurse Service of New York 212-609-7564 sraffle@vnsny.org GETS URL: http://gets.ncs.gov/ Information on Risk Communications and Message Mapping/Dr. Vincent Covello: http://www.maqweb.org/techbriefs/tb49riskcomn.shtml