Emergency Preparedness & Incident Management Flashcards

What is the role of the Safety Officer in the Hospital Incident Command System?

Answer: Monitoring and assessing hazardous and unsafe conditions during incident response

The Safety Officer monitors operations for hazardous conditions, ensures responder safety, and has authority to halt any unsafe activity during incident response.

What is the recommended span of control in the Incident Command System?

Answer: 1 supervisor to 3-7 subordinates

ICS recommends a span of control of 3 to 7 subordinates per supervisor, with 5 being optimal, to maintain effective supervision.

What does the term demobilization refer to in incident management?

Answer: The orderly release of resources and personnel as they are no longer needed

Demobilization is the orderly, safe, and efficient return of resources to their original location and status when they are no longer needed.

Which type of emergency exercise involves participants discussing their roles and responses to a simulated scenario in a conference setting?

Answer: Tabletop exercise

A tabletop exercise is a discussion-based exercise where participants talk through their responses to a simulated emergency scenario in an informal setting.

What is an After Action Report (AAR) in emergency management?

Answer: A document that captures observations, lessons learned, and recommendations following an exercise or actual event

An After Action Report documents what happened, what went well, what needs improvement, and specific recommendations following an emergency exercise or actual incident.

During an emergency evacuation of a healthcare facility, what is horizontal evacuation?

Answer: Moving patients to a safe area on the same floor

Horizontal evacuation involves moving patients to a safe area on the same floor, typically behind fire/smoke barriers, which is the first and preferred method.

What is the purpose of a Medical Surge Annex in an emergency operations plan?

Answer: To outline procedures for handling a large influx of casualties exceeding normal capacity

A Medical Surge Annex provides specific procedures for managing patient volumes that exceed the facility normal operating capacity during mass casualty events.

In the context of healthcare emergency management, what does COOP stand for?

Answer: Continuity of Operations Plan

COOP stands for Continuity of Operations Plan, which outlines how an organization will continue essential functions during and after a disruption.

What is the primary purpose of conducting a hot wash immediately after an emergency exercise?

Answer: To gather immediate feedback and initial impressions from participants

A hot wash is an informal debriefing held immediately after an exercise to capture initial impressions and feedback while the experience is fresh.

Which agency administers the Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP) that provides funding to healthcare coalitions?

Answer: ASPR (Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response)

ASPR administers the Hospital Preparedness Program, which funds healthcare coalitions to improve regional preparedness.

What is the Incident Action Plan (IAP) in emergency management?

Answer: A documented plan containing objectives, strategies, and assignments for a specific operational period

The Incident Action Plan is a written plan that documents incident objectives, strategies, tactics, and resource assignments for a specific operational period.

What does the term mutual aid agreement mean in healthcare emergency preparedness?

Answer: A pre-arranged agreement between organizations to provide assistance during emergencies

A mutual aid agreement is a pre-established arrangement between healthcare facilities or organizations to share resources, personnel, and support during emergencies.

During a hospital-wide emergency, the Incident Commander delegates patient care operations to the Operations Section Chief. This delegation is best described as which ICS principle?

Answer: Delegation of authority

Delegation of authority allows the Incident Commander to formally transfer specific responsibilities to subordinate section chiefs while retaining overall command.

A hospital's Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) must be exercised at minimum how often according to The Joint Commission (TJC) standards?

Answer: Twice per year with one being a full-scale drill

TJC requires hospitals to conduct two emergency exercises per year, with at least one involving an influx of actual or simulated patients.

Which NIMS component establishes standardized protocols for resource typing, credentialing, and inventorying to support resource management during incidents?

Answer: Resource Management

The Resource Management component of NIMS provides the protocols and systems for identifying, acquiring, allocating, and tracking resources during incidents.

A healthcare facility activates its Shelter-in-Place plan during a hazardous chemical release nearby. Which action is the HIGHEST priority in the first 5 minutes?

Answer: Seal air intakes and switch HVAC to recirculation mode

Sealing air intakes and switching HVAC to recirculation prevents external contaminated air from entering the building, which is the most time-critical protective action.

In the Hospital Incident Command System (HICS), who is directly responsible for ensuring the safety of all incident personnel and patients?

Answer: Safety Officer

The Safety Officer reports directly to the Incident Commander and has authority to stop unsafe actions to protect incident personnel and patients.

A hospital receives 40 casualties from a mass casualty incident. The emergency manager wants to track patient disposition in real time. Which tool is MOST appropriate?

Answer: Electronic patient tracking system integrated with regional HAvBED

An electronic patient tracking system integrated with regional hospital available beds (HAvBED) enables real-time visibility of patient status and bed capacity across the region.

During an after-action review (AAR) following a hospital emergency drill, the team identifies that communication between the ED and the EOC repeatedly failed. The BEST corrective action is to:

Answer: Add the communication gap to the Improvement Plan with assigned owner and deadline

AARs should produce an Improvement Plan that documents gaps, assigns responsible parties, and sets deadlines to ensure corrective actions are actually implemented.