Midwest winters bring snow, ice, freezing rain or sleet, wind and extremely cold temperatures – sometimes all at once. The countdown may be on for spring, 56 days if you’re curious, but winter weather emergencies continue to affect our communities.

Take a few minutes to prepare (or repack) winter survival kits for your home and car. Unpredictable and rapidly changing conditions can make difficult travel difficult during the course of the day.

“Just because it’s clear when you leave for work or school, doesn’t mean your return trip will go off without a hitch,” said Dan Ensign, Coles County Emergency Management Agency. “Even traveling within the State just a few dozen miles can have a drastic change in conditions, so it’s best to prepare.” read more

For most healthcare organizations located in the mid-west, tornados are one of our greatest vulnerabilities.

Tornado watches and warnings come often and because we are so accustomed to hearing these announcements, many of us become apathetic to responding in an effective manner to the threat.

Apathy creates mistakes. In the healthcare setting, a mistake may create injuries or loss of life. Below are a few tips to engage your staff in embracing the importance of tornado preparedness and their specific duties to react/respond to the event. read more

It’s an unfortunate fact that due to design, access, and type of services rendered, most hospitals are extremely vulnerable to an active shooter event. They are susceptible because they typically have several open entrances to the building, the building is open 24 hours per day, many people are in the building, and like many other businesses, hospitals may have disgruntled employees, patients, or family members who are looking for revenge.

Active Shooter planning and preparedness is paramount in increasing an environment of safety for hospital staff, visitors, and patients. Because an active shooter event is typically over is less than 7 minutes, hospitals cannot afford to simply wait on police to arrive before they take actions. Time waiting may equate to lives lost. Therefore, it is vital that all hospitals engage in active shooter planning, training, and exercising. read more

It’s that time of year again, when the temperatures drop and snow begins to fall. That means it’s time to make a winter weather plan.

As you know, our patients depend on us in both the pre-hospital and hospital settings. We are often faced with extreme cold and heavy snowfall. But the truth is illness and injury do not cease in bad weather. Because our community and patients depend on us, it is important that we as healthcare providers develop a personal winter weather plan to optimize our ability to arrive to our work locations safely. read more

For many years hospitals have used emergency code terms to announce emergencies within the hospital and within the community that may affect the hospital. Currently, there are no regulatory standards for these codes so many hospitals make up their own. They are confusing, and ambiguous. The use of plain language is obvious and transparent to all. Transparency in a crisis situation is paramount for effective emergency notification and the safety of our staff, patients and visitors.

Download the » regional disaster plan word document « today!