Emergency Preparedness & Management Center

Critical Emergency Procedures

Critical emergency preparedness steps for occupational physicians:

Inventory existing in-house emergency plans
Know your responsibilities and stay within them
Contact local fire department to coordinate emergency planning
Contact local emergency planning council to coordinate emergency planning
Assess vulnerabilities at your institution
Appoint emergency planner for facility
Appoint a “wet blanket” to critique your emergency plan
Exercise your emergency plan with and without your “experts”
Know your resources and how to access them immediately and in various ways
“Semper gumby” – practice flexibility
Create an incident command structure for your facility
Learn what your community’s plan is for your facility (what do they expect of you)
Develop a relationship with the media
Assure that there is mental health support in your plan
Develop badge systems that allow access to your site for key personnel
Develop one button broadcast distribution lists
Develop redundant communication plans
Security is a major concern, plan with your local police department
Extend mutual aid compacts beyond public safety officers to include hospitals (emergency medical credentialing) and industries with emergency response resources