Hospitals Archives

Electronic Medical Records – Potential Benefits of a ‘Health Cloud’

Rodrigo (Roddy) Moscoso May 19, 2010

The 21st-century world of high-tech communications – ranging from the transmission of classified information to social texting and junk mail – has not yet, partly because of privacy concerns, significantly improved the forwarding of medical records. What can and should be done about this?

DHR, MEMA, the LEMs & Maryland’s WST Example

Pamela Spring and Rainier C. Harvey, Sr. May 12, 2010

The 2009 inauguration of President Barack Obama was a truly historic event in many ways – and for many reasons, not least of which is that it provided a “golden standard” opportunity for the State of Maryland and its National Capital Region partners to use, validate, and learn from a

Hospital Expansion Through Alternate Care Sites

Joseph Cahill May 5, 2010

At a time in U.S. history when mass-casualty events are not only more frequent but also much better publicized, the numerous public and private-sector agencies involved are, correctly, focusing greater attention on their own preparedness to cope with such “when, not if” situations. Hospitals, for example, many of which are

A Mall Setting in Georgia for H1N1 Vaccinations

Elizabeth Hausauer and Connie Russell April 28, 2010

Advance planning, a can-do spirit of cooperation, a focus on the small details, and excellent communications skills – all were essential ingredients in Georgia’s eminently successful campaign to protect the citizens of that great state from the global flu pandemic.

Law Enforcement Pandemic Resilience: Time to Recalibrate

Joseph W. Trindal April 28, 2010

The global-disaster scenario originally forecast fell far short of the dire predictions. Which is a good reason to celebrate. But not a reason to stop planning and preparing for “what might have been.” Hurricane Katrina taught many lessons worth learning, the most important of which is that states, communities, and

Using Regulations to Neutralize Red Tape

Joseph Cahill April 21, 2010

In times of urgent need, a “probably acceptable” solution is almost always better than one that is demonstrably not very effective and/or has failed in the past. That is the common-sense understanding reflected in the Emergency Use Authorization rule that permits the FDA to approve apparently effective – but not

Pandemic Preparedness: Advance Planning Is Mandatory

Jennifer Smither April 21, 2010

Healthcare workers, first responders, and emergency managers in Louisiana and Missouri used the H1N1 global pandemic to demonstrate how an imminent disaster – combined with information sharing, the early promulgation of preparedness plans, and a modicum of managerial expertise – can provide valuable lessons learned to cope with future disasters

Compare Your Thoughts with Those from National Experts on…Pandemic Preparedness & Response

Paul E. Jarris and John F. Morton April 21, 2010

The nation’s “Pandemic Preparedness & Response” capabilities – and deficiencies – are examined, debated, and discussed by the DOMPREP40 panel of career emergency-management and domestic-preparedness professionals. As with previous such surveys, readers are asked, and cordially invited, to make their own judgments on a broad spectrum of these literally life-or-death matters.

H1N1: Learning from a Less-Than-Worst-Case Scenario

Craig DeAtley April 14, 2010

The best that can be said, usually, about worst-case scenarios, after the fact, is that they never actually happened. But the just-in-case preparations for the 2009-10 H1N1 “Swine Flu” global scare generated some residual training benefits, and even the mistakes made can, and should, be transmogrified into valuable lessons learned.

Pandemics Are In The Air

Diana Hopkins April 7, 2010

Lightning strikes are sudden and spectacular, highly visible, and extremely violent. Not to mention lethal. Bacteria and viruses are just the opposite – totally invisible, in fact. But they kill many more people, in every country in the world, year after year than lightning does. It may be helpful to

Using NHSS ‘To Minimize the Risks’

Raphael Barishansky April 7, 2010

There are 10 principal objectives in what has been described as “the first comprehensive policy document” focusing specifically on protecting the health of the American people in times of national emergency – e.g., a major mass-casualty incident such as an earthquake, volcanic eruption, or terrorist attack. Here is a quick

H1N1: A Lesson for Healthcare Preparedness

Theodore Tully April 4, 2010

The numerous mistakes, misunderstandings, and miscalculations made in preparing for the potential loss of perhaps millions of lives during the 2009-10 global pandemic that never happened do not represent a total loss. Just the opposite, in fact – if (a very big if) political decision makers, emergency managers, and healthcare

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