Are You Prepared?

Here comes Ian, expecting to hit Florida soon. Use this as a wake-up call to review your own emergency preparedness.

Many of you have recently experienced natural disasters. Be it hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, or fires, being prepared counts when it matters most.

Those of us in the healthcare profession have more to consider in the event of a disaster. Not only do we have to be prepared for ourselves and our loved ones, but many of us have a responsibility to the community. In fact, HIPAA requires that you have a documented emergency plan of operations for your facility.

What contingency plans do you have in place to operate, or not, in a disaster? Part of your security risk assessment should include an evaluation of what natural disasters you are likely to encounter in your area, and you need a policy that dictates what your plans are going to be. In a fire, can you save your critical data? How about your patient scans and images that aren’t digital? You should also maintain a list of emergency contacts – the CDC, local fire, police, and whoever would be proper for your situation.

When you get home this evening, do this one, simple thing. Walk through your home, phone in hand, and take a video of everything in your home. Sync that video with your cloud storage, done! Less than 5 minutes. It’s literally that easy. If you want to take it a step further, create your own emergency plan of operations for your home and family.

Here are some resources that can help:
Red Cross Preparedness Checklist
Ready.gov Checklist
FEMA Emergency Tools