Local Businesses Plan for Unlikely Situations
by October 1, 2001 12:00 am 72 views
Workplace emergency-training exercises no longer seem like drills for imaginary traumas. The recent tragedies in New York City and Washington, D.C., made people throughout the nation feel vulnerable.
Washington Regional Medical Center had begun updating their crisis-management system before the terrorist attacks occurred on Sept. 11. However, hospital employees now have images of collapsing skyscrapers in mind.
Employees want their managers to remember the recent devastation on macro and personal levels, according to a release from Bruce Blythe, CEO of Crisis Management International in Atlanta, Ga. CMI is a network of mental health counselors and former FBI and Secret Service agents that focuses on the human aspects of natural and man-made disasters.
“This is a delicate time. If management does not demonstrate a balance of productivity issues and nurturance,” Blythe said in the report, “employees will run a higher risk of burnout.”
Although a direct attack in Northwest Arkansas is unlikely, employees need to know how to manage in a similar event.
As WRMC’s director of safety management, John Herring wants Northwest Arkansas to adopt the Hospital Emergency Incident Command System. HEICS is a method of disaster management that originated in California.
Everyone using HEICS — including WRMC employees, the Fayetteville Police Department and Central Emergency Medical Service Inc. — would share a logistics plan for emergency response, said Steve Percival, human resources director at WRMC.
Other hospitals and public-servant sectors have been invited to use HEICS, but only Fayetteville entities have shown interest.
Percival and Herring said they are confident that WRMC’s administration will adopt HEICS soon. Employees would begin training for the program before the hospital moves to North Hills Boulevard next year.
Tested during various disasters in California, HEICS was designed to be flexible and fit any situation. It relies on hospital departments rather than individuals to execute protocol, and each department knows what the others will be responsible for doing.
After all of the existing WRMC employees complete the initial training — a 12- to 24-month process — regular follow-up sessions will be scheduled. New employees would begin to learn their role in HEICS during orientation.