Disaster preparedness plans are important for healthcare leaders to follow. They supply the steps that should be taken and can be tweaked according to the situation. One of the first steps that need to be taken is security. According to Huser (2015), a leader needs to “…control access to the building, as well as movement of those within the building: (p. 9). This secures safety of staff and keeps only essential personnel from coming in. Second step would be to establish communication channels with all affected departments. These departments like emergency and surgery need to work in tandem depending on the situation. Third step would be to assess communication channels with emergency personnel. Whether that’s inside or outside, leadership needs to know everything about the situation.

Fourth step would be to assess whether normal operations need to be scaled back or moved forward. Supply demands have to be managed. According to VanVactor (2011), “Health care operations can be abruptly halted due to the non-availability of supply” (p. 1). This is an important step because without patients can be harmed. The last step would be to assess future needs such as supply demands, patient influx, or staff changes. These need to be looked at because if one is low or high operations can suffer.

Huser, T. (2015). Managing security and safety during disasters. Briefings on Hospital Safety, 23(12), 9–12.

VanVactor, J. D. (2011). Health care logistics: who has the ball during disaster? Emerging Health Threats, 4, 1–N.PAG. https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.3402/ehtj.v4i0.7167