Disaster Operations Policies and Procedures

2

Disaster Recovery

Diamond Mizell

HSA 540

Dr. Ukochovwera

11/09/2023

Disaster Recovery

Hospitals are essential in saving lives and minimizing people’s suffering during and after disasters. Organized hospitals are adequately prepared for emergencies and disaster strikes (Verheul & Dückers, 2020). They ensure everything is to maintain operations’ continuity during a disaster. Nevertheless, some hospitals fail to plan and prepare for potential disasters, leading to multiple deaths of people in the emergency department. The following paper will examine disaster preparedness challenges faced by Villa Health.

Villa Health faced several preparedness challenges during and after the catastrophe. First, the hospital did not have a clear and detailed disaster recovery plan. According to one employee, someone brought out a disaster plan, but it was somewhat useless. The plan contained little information on using resources wisely but did not encompass concrete steps or plans. As a result, the hospital staff worked randomly without any thought of priorities or triage or anything. Another challenge that the hospital faced was a lack of structure or order. According to one employee, who was in charge was unclear, and nobody made any decisions. Patients started coming in with smoke inhalation, burn wounds, blunt trauma, etc. Due to a lack of structure, the hospital staff dealt with the patients on a first-come, first-served basis, which means that patients with severe injuries could have suffered for a long time while the hospital workers were handling patients with minor injuries who just happened to get to the hospital a little earlier.

One of the biggest challenges to creating an updated disaster plan for the hospital is budgeting issues. According to the hospital’s director, it is hard to develop a disaster plan when faced with budget realities. The hospital expects the management to hit specific monetary targets, making it challenging to sit down and make a plan.

References

Verheul, M. L., & Dückers, M. L. (2020). Defining and operationalizing disaster preparedness in hospitals: a systematic literature review.  Prehospital and disaster medicine,  35(1), 61-68.