These resources on emergency preparedness will help legal counsel and emergency planners identify key legal and operational issues that most likely will arise in the event of a public health crisis, terrorist threat, environmental disaster or other emergency situation. The resources offer detailed analyses of the challenges presented by public health emergencies and provide practical solutions that will help facilitate a healthcare provider's emergency preparedness planning, making it possible for healthcare organizations to effectively respond to an emergency while continuing to serve their communities.
Also included is a resource for patients who have chronic medical conditions and special needs, A Patient's Guide to Emergency Preparedness provides guidance on how patients and their caretakers can best prepare for an unexptected health crisis due to natural or man-made disasters.
A Patient's Guide to Emergency Preparedness
This Guide will assist you and your family to anticipate challenges in the event that a public health crisis disrupts your normal work, school, and social routines and to take appropriate precautions to reduce the risks of suffering an adverse health outcome. Such planning reduces public panic and ensures that those most in need are given appropriate attention in an emergency.
Community Pan-Flu Preparedness: A Checklist of Key Legal Issues for Healthcare Providers
This guidebook examines the critical legal and ethical issues involved in pandemic preparedness planning and response. It is a scalable tool designed to assist healthcare providers, public health agencies, and government officials in taking concrete steps to prepare for and respond to an influenza pandemic. This document was informed by AHLA's Pandemic and H5N1 Flu: A Prescription for Preparedness convener session that was co-sponsored by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Emergency Preparedness Response & Recovery Checklist: Beyond the Emergency Management Plan
The Checklist's core sections are organized around a series of questions that a healthcare facility should answer in preparing for or addressing an emergency. The range of issues covers topics such as patient tracking and placement, healthcare personnel matters, vendor agreements, institutional insurance coverage as well as patient insurance coverage, the application of EMTALA requirements in emergency conditions, continuation of Internet and other information technology services, and securing disaster funding, to name a few. The Checklist recognizes that public health emergencies pose unique legal and operational issues that require close coordination and cooperation between public health agencies, healthcare organizations, and their respective legal counsel. Two appendices of resources were provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Public Health Law Program.
Lessons Learned from the Gulf Coast Hurricanes
A follow-up publication to the Emergency Preparedness, Response & Recovery Checklist this guidebook draws on the experiences of healthcare providers and community leaders who were involved in the immediate rebuilding efforts of the Gulf Coast hurricanes. Furthermore, it is the product of additional insights gained from analyzing emergency situations and distilling "lessons learned" from the Gulf storms of 2005.