The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has awarded more than $352 million in grants to help improve disaster preparedness of hospitals and health care systems.
Recipients of the grants, which come from the Hospital Preparedness Program, use the funds to employ experts who have developed and maintained preparedness plans and to purchase equipment, including mobile medical units and equipment to communicate with local emergency responders, according to an HHS news release.
Grant recipients, hospitals and healthcare systems within every state and three large metropolitan areas, put systems in place to track the number of hospital beds available which helps hospitals handle a surge of patients after disasters, as well as systems to register volunteers. The funds also support planning, training and exercises for evacuating facilities, for sheltering patients and staff in place, and for managing mass fatalities. In addition, HPP funds may be used to purchase pharmaceutical caches for use during an emergency response.
Read the HHS news release on disaster preparedness grants.
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