Planning Standards
Joint Commission Standard EC.4.12
- A successful response relies upon planning around the management of six critical areas: communications; resources and assets; safety and security; staffing; utilities; and clinical activities. It is important for organizations to develop a comprehensive Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) as documentation to help guide the organization in its emergency response and recovery efforts. While the EOP can be formatted in a variety of ways, it must address these six critical areas to serve as a blueprint for managing care and safety during an emergency.
- Some emergencies can escalate unexpectedly and strain the organization and the entire community. An organization cannot mitigate risks, plan thoroughly, and sustain an effective response and recovery without preparing its staff and collaborating with the community, suppliers and external response partners as well. Such an approach will aid the organization in developing a scalable response capability and in defining the timing and criteria for decisions that involve sheltering in place, patient transfer, facility closings, or evacuation.
On August 3, 2007 H.R.1, “Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007” was signed by the President and became Public Law No. 110-53. One subsection on Private Sector Preparedness encourages the use of business continuity and disaster recovery standards such as NFPA 1600. It also calls for the development of a private sector preparedness accreditation and certification program. Such a program would be used to certify the preparedness of private sector organizations.
NFPA 1600 is a standard for:
- Disaster management programs
- Emergency management programs
- Business continuity management programs
The purpose of the NFPA 1600 Standard is to help the disaster management, emergency management, and business continuity communities to manage disasters and emergencies. Its purpose is to help organizations and jurisdictions to:
- Prevent disasters and emergencies
- Mitigate disasters and emergencies
- Prepare for disasters and emergencies
- Respond to disasters and emergencies
- Recover from disasters and emergencies
