Regional surge capacity projects

Alternate care facilities Bryan Heartsfield Field Operations Manager 206-263-8716 Bryan.Heartsfield@kingcounty.gov

The Alternate Care Facility's primary mission will be to utilize non-medical buildings that will be repurposed in the event of a disaster for the delivery of healthcare services. The goal will be to augment and assist the healthcare system by providing an alternative healthcare delivery system focused on non complex care.

Objectives (applicability will be scenario dependent):

1. To deliver sufficient medical care for patients that have specific illnesses or injuries due to a disaster and that cannot be adequately and timely provided by an existing healthcare sector (e.g. ambulatory care clinics, hospitals, long-term care facilities or home health services).
   
   
2. To deliver urgent care (non-life threatening medical care) to offload Emergency Departments (ED) and ambulatory care clinics, so that these sectors can maximize care for other patient needs.
   
   
3. To deliver non-complex care which is traditionally provided in inpatient care settings and offload acute care hospitals to maximize care for more critically ill patients with potentially survivable conditions.
   
   
4. To deliver non-complex care which is usually provided at home with home health services for patients that have insufficient home situations and for when home health care services and hospitals are operating above maximal capacity to offload acute care hospitals to maximize care for more critically ill patients.
   
   
5. To facilitate follow-up services so patients can be safely discharged to a non-medical site (e.g. home, shelter) and where follow-up at EDs or ACFs is minimized.

Workgroups -- Committees:

• Pharmaceutical Task Force
  
  
  

Volunteer Management (Staffing) Bryan Heartsfield Field Operations Manager 206-263-8716 Bryan.Heartsfield@kingcounty.gov

This system will include protocols to register, credential, assign, train, and badge a range of medical volunteers to support a region-wide healthcare system response in a disaster. This comprehensive effort will incorporate volunteers from our Public Health Reserve Corps, other medical reserve corps within and outside King County, as well as various other volunteers.

Objectives:

• Research and consolidate regional staffing initiative efforts
• Develop Overall Volunteer Management System regarding:
  • Recruitment
  • Registration
  • Training
  • Credentialing
  • Deployment
• Define Volunteer Categories and their management and utilization:
  • Affiliated Volunteers
  • Pre-Registered Volunteers
  • Spontaneous Volunteers
  • Volunteer Groups
• Develop Volunteer Credentialing Process & Agreements
• Develop and Implement Staffing Models for Alternate Care Facilities, Medical Needs Shelters and other support facilities
• Develop Volunteer Database and Call Up Procedures
• Integrate VMS leadership and staffing into Incident Command System Organizational Structure
• Institute and Standardize Agreements among County Medical Institutions regarding the acceptance of Volunteer Assistance in Disasters
  
  
  

Puget Sound Call Center Coordination Joe Cropley Washington Poison Center 206-517-2383 cropley@wapc.org

To increase capacity, a consortium of existing medical and non-medical call centers, including staff/volunteers working from home, will be networked to provide phone triage as well as disseminate up to date health information to the general public. Medical call centers that will provide telephone triage include hospital-based nurse advice lines and consulting nurse services as well as the Washington Poison Center. Those callers with medical needs will be directed to the most appropriate venue or managed over the phone at home by way of physician-reviewed guidelines and/or algorithms. Non-medical call centers such as 2-1-1, clinic scheduling services and customer support lines may be utilized to disseminate basic scripted health information as well. King County is planning to pilot the project locally with the intent of further developing a coordinated statewide effort by the end of 2009.

Objectives:

1. Accurately triage people with medical needs and direct them to the most appropriate venue.
   1. Reduce the number of outpatient visits so that services can be maintained for those who require face-to-face visits with clinicians.
   2. Reduce transmission of contagious diseases at outpatient healthcare sites by redirecting people away from those settings unless the benefit of the visit outweighs the potential risks to them and others.
      
      
2. Provide up-to-date information for the public regarding pertinent health issues and interventions during emergencies.

Tools:

• Puget Sound Call Center Coordination Project - CONCEPTUAL MODEL (PDF)
  
  
  

Business Resiliency Workshops for Healthcare Lydia Ortega Grants, Contracts & Marketing 206-263-8721 Lydia.Ortega@kingcounty.gov

The King County Healthcare Coalition and Public Health Seattle and King County recently received a competitive grant award from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR). With this Partnership Grant, Public Health – Seattle & King County and the King County Healthcare Coalition sought to fund non-hospital healthcare agencies serving King County to develop and enhance their resiliency in an emergency.

Training (September and October 2009):

Business Resiliency Training for Healthcare Providers: Prepare for H1N1 and Green River Flooding Hazard

Objectives:

1. Public Health – Seattle & King County and the King County Healthcare Coalition sought to fund projects designed to assist the King County region in becoming better prepared and ready to respond to the needs of at-risk populations during times of disaster. Projects submitted were designed to regionally benefit at-risk populations rather than one individual organization or treatment provider.
2. Awards of up to $24,000 were available to fund projects that assisted one or more of the following non-hospital providers in King County: mental health, substance abuse, long-term care (nursing homes, boarding homes, adult family homes, home health and home care), pediatric care, ambulatory care, palliative care and other specialty services (e.g. dialysis providers, blood centers, poison center, surgical centers, etc).

Tools:

• Business Resiliency Final Report (PDF)
• Business Resiliency Manual (PDF). If you are a healthcare provider within King County, please contact Lydia.Ortega@kingcounty.gov to receive the full version of the Business Resiliency Manual.
• Business Resiliency Workbook for Healthcare Professionals (PDF)
• Emergency Phone Services: GETS and WPS Overview (PDF)
  
  
  

Healthcare Mass Fatality Management Onora Lien Healthcare Coalition Special Projects Manager 206-263-8717 Onora.Lien@kingcounty.gov

Objectives:

1. Facilitate coordination between healthcare facilities, mortuary service providers and the King County Medical Examiner's Office regarding deaths that occur during an emergency or disaster
2. Develop strategy and guidelines for healthcare facilities to improve surge capacity for handling fatalities during an emergency or disaster
3. Provide technical assistance to healthcare facilities on mass fatality management
   
   
   

Disaster Family Information and Assistance Onora Lien Healthcare Coalition Special Projects Manager 206-263-8717 Onora.Lien@kingcounty.gov

Objectives:

1. Determine strategy and guidelines for coordinating healthcare patient/victim tracking information
2. Develop policies and protocol for communication with families/Next of Kin during an emergency or disaster regarding patients, victims and unaccounted for persons
3. Establish operational protocol for healthcare facility based disaster family information and support center
4. Develop operational protocol for countywide or regional Family Assistance Center
5. Establish behavioral health response plan to meet the mental health and spiritual care needs of family and friends of disaster related patients or victims