1. Consider the specific dangers for your region. The mandates for disaster preparation will differ depending on the location of your ASC. For example, if your state is prone to hurricanes, your center might have the option of closing temporarily after a hurricane warning. “If you are going to close down in the event of a hurricane forecasted coming at your community, you should practice how you would carry that out,” Ms. Jones says. Similarly, if your area is prone to tornadoes, you should practice your procedures if the radio predicts a tornado. In order to do these drills, you should make sure your facility has up-to-date information on disaster procedures.
2. Don’t tell staff members about drills in advance. You should schedule disaster drills without informing your staff in order to create a realistic simulation. If everyone knows about the drill ahead of time, they will have time to prepare, and you won’t know how your center would function if a real disaster occurred. “Have a few people who know what’s going to happen, so they can notice what the staff is doing during a drill,” Ms. Jones says. She recommends you place observers in each area of the surgery center, the pre-op, OR and PACU, so you can identify problem areas.
3. Follow up afterward. After the drill is over, gather your staff for a discussion on how it went. Ask for feedback on when your staff felt unsure about what to do. At this point, your drill observers can also comment on your successes and failures and give suggestions for the future. “When you have those follow-up team meetings, you can change how you train people,” Ms. Jones says. “For example, ask, ‘What would have happened if there had been a real fire? What didn’t go according to policy or plan?'”
4. Don’t assume you’re safe. One of the mistakes ASCs make is assuming that a disaster can’t happen to their center, says Ms. Jones. Even if a drill is mandated, like a code blue drill or a fire drill, staff members need to take it seriously. “When you are dealing with disasters, you might take it a little bit lightly, thinking you are safe, that it will never happen to you or your center,” she says.
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