June 27, 2003—More than 60 managed care executives recently met with leading emergency preparedness experts to discuss preparation strategies in the wake of possible bioterrorism threats. According to an expert panel at the American Association of Health Plans’ Institute and Display Forum, the first step is for managed care organizations to meet with local emergency service providers before an incident occurs.
“Building a relationship with your local emergency response team could be as simple as inviting your local fire chief or police chief out for coffee,” said Tom Marlowe, manager, Emergency Management Institute’s Terrorism Preparedness Training for the Department of Homeland Security. “Once a plan is in place, it’s critical for all parties to know the plan, rehearse it, and decide on a decision-maker or executive committee who will oversee and activate it.”
The panel agreed that the second step is a system to control panic through effective dissemination of information. Panic can overwhelm local health care and information systems and create both financial and communication problems. The panelists cited examples of emergency service providers’ cell phones not working following the attacks on the World Trade Center, because too many people were trying to use them. They also posed scenarios of truly sick patients receiving delayed health care during a bioterrorism incident because of the in-flux of patients who would request unnecessary treatments.
The third step identified by the panel is to train staff. “If a hospital needs to be quarantined because it is the site of an infectious disease, staff should have an alternate site to triage patients,” said Hauer. “Also, human resources staff of all types of workplaces need to be trained to deal with employees who fear coming to work in these types of situations.”
For general information or for staff training courses on bioterrorism, public health outbreaks, and natural disasters, visit the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security.
