SUMTER COUNTY
Amateur Radio Emergency Services Association (ARES)
Sumter County, Florida
HOSPITAL BACKGROUND
Hospital Organization (Regular Operations)
The Sumter ARES relationship is with the Facilities
Management of the Hospital or a subgroup of that department (Security or
Emergency Coordinator).
Florida Public Health
- Clinical and Nutrition
- Community Health Services
- Environmental Health
- Emergency Preparedness and Response
- Infectious Disease
- Wellness Programs
The Florida Department of Health in Sumter is the lead
agency for Emergency Support Function 8 (ESF # 8 -Health and Medical)
and is tasked with staffing the County Special Needs Shelter in the
County, having a representative present at the EOC during natural or
man-made disasters, and that representative will be providing direction
to various hospitals and agencies in the County.
This County office also sponsors the Medical Reserve Corp (MRC) of Sumter County. The MRC is intended to augment local community and state-level health and medical services using trained and vetted healthcare professionals and medical support staff for disasters as well as public health emergencies.. During hurricanes, these members staff the Special Needs Shelter.
Tampa Bay Health & Medical Preparedness Coalition
This healthcare coalition is a group of healthcare organizations, public safety and public health partners that join forces for the common cause of making their communities safer, healthier and more resilient. Coalitions have formed across the United States to support their communities before, during and after disasters and other crises.
The Tampa Bay Health and Medical Preparedness Coalition brings together competing organizations to build capabilities that can’t be achieved alone. They strive to meet the emergency preparedness needs of more than 5,000 healthcare organizations and 100,000 healthcare workers.
The Tampa Bay Health and Medical Preparedness Coalition encompasses the following counties: Citrus, Hardee, Hernando, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk and Sumter Counties. Lake County is a member of the Central Florida Disaster Medical Coalition and Marion County is covered by Coalition for Health and Medical Preparedness (CHAMP). These groups follow the Regional Domestic Security Task Force divisions in Florida.
Hospital Incident Command System
The hospital incident command system (HICS) is an incident command system (ICS) designed for hospitals and intended for use in both emergency and non-emergency situations. It provides hospitals of all sizes with tools needed to advance their emergency preparedness and response capability—both individually and as members of the broader response community. It is similar to the field incident command system but has different boxes below the Chief level.
The emergency operations plan (EOP) outlines the hospital's strategy for responding to and recovering from a realized threat or hazard or other incident. This document is intended to provide overall direction and coordination of the response structure and processes to be used by the hospital. An effective EOP lays the groundwork for implementation of the incident command system and the needed communication and coordination between operating groups. The essence of the process includes the following steps:
- Designating an emergency program manager program
- Establishing the emergency management committee
- Developing the “all hazards” emergency operations plan
- Conducting a hazard vulnerability analysis
- Developing incident-specific guidance (Incident Planning Guides)
- Coordinating with external entities
- Training key staff
- Exercising the EOP and incident-specific guidance through an annual exercise program
- Conducting program review and evaluation
- Learning from the lessons that are identified (organizational learning)
Hospital Command Center
There is a conference or meeting room that is also designated as the Hospital Command Center (HCC) or the ICS room where the Command and General Staffs will meet along with any other parties needed. Part of their discussion will involve patient privacy and HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability ACT (2003)which means that Amateur Radio Operators should not be in the room but as close to the room room as possible. The Communication station may be in an adjoining closet, a hallway, or a nearby office.
There may also be a backup HCC in case the planned center is not accessible. It may be located elsewhere in the building or even across the street (TVRH and LRMC only)
Patient Privacy, HIPAA and Amateur Radio Communications (doc)
Hospital Communication Methods
Regular:- Intra computer system and Internet Email
- Fax
- Landline phone
- Cell Phone OK until the cell tower stops working
- Satellite Phone Most hospitals have one or more phones and a by-the-minute used communications provider for the phone. Not as convenient as one would think.
- 800 Radios These radios do not receive very well inside buildings so hospitals have a booster system for radio use inside the building. The radio is tied to the county system and those channels only. Generally, the radios are used only once or twice each year. As a result, there may be problems with how long the batteries last and other systems are preferred.
- Amateur Radio This is considered to be a last resource system.
Hospital Power
The Hospitals are required to have backup power and be able to operate on that system for a minimum number of hours. There are two light switch and power outlets systems throughout the hospital. One has the ivory or chrome plate and the other has a red plate. The ivory plate/switch system is the regular power system and the red plate/switch system is the backup power system. When setting up the radio, we should use the red system outlets for plugging in the radio power supply.
Emergency Response Activation Levels
4 Normal Operations Routine monitoring of daily situations by County Emergency Services and local agencies, this could include; International, National, State or Local issues. Hospitals should use pre-existing means to monitor daily activities and maintain a posture of readiness.
3 Limited Activation Activation select Hospital staff to more closely monitor a developing situation or an incident with the potential for limited impact. This condition can also be defined as partial mobilization. Hospital Command Center (HCC) not likely to be activated.
2 Partial Activation Activation by one or more appropriate departments to respond to discipline-specific events; or to more closely monitor a developing situation or an incident with potential impact; or potential for impending strike. Tailored HCC activation and limited to one operational period.
1 Full Activation Activation of the full HCC and the Hospital's Internal or External disaster plan to respond to an emergency or disaster situation that may have a broad and potentially devastating impact on the local community or hospital facility. Extends to multiple operational periods.
Radio operators would be activated for a Level 1 or 2 Activation.
The life-cycle of an incident includes the following steps:
- Alert and notification
- Situation assessment and monitoring
- EOP implementation
- Establishing the HCC
- Building the ICS structure
- Incident action planning
- Communications and coordination
- Staff health and safety
- Operational considerations
- Legal and ethical considerations
- Demobilization
- System recovery
- Response evaluation and organizational learning
Hospital Incident Command System:
An Introduction for Physicians Video https://stanfordhealthcare.org/stanford-health-now/videos/hics.html
Hospital Incident Command System Video (video)
Last Update: 07/03/2018 © Copyright Sumter County ARES. All Rights Reserved.