Planning - and budgeting - for un-plannable disasters is a balancing act, according to an article in DOTmed Business News. Disaster preparation efforts may be considered a resource drain in calm times, but if a disaster catches a hospital unprepared, emergency departments come under fire.
Experts site The Boston Marathon bombing as an example of why it can be more helpful to plan for capabilities rather than specific threat scenarios.
“There’s a natural tendency to focus on threat scenarios because people are always drawn to the last thing that happens, so they focus on snowstorms or earthquakes because that’s what gets your attention,” said Dr. Paul Biddinger, director of disaster medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Emergency Medicine.
“But there’s no question hospitals have been encouraged to engage in capability-based planning. And the vast majority has tended to move in that direction.”
Read the article.
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