Knocking on wood is NOT a plan…

Life is not about how high you climb or how fast you run, but how well you bounce. As we all know, emergencies can happen anytime, anywhere. Being prepared at home, at work and in your car by having a disaster plan and emergency supplies, will reduce your anxiety level during an emergency.

Vancouver Community, as an organization, also strives to reduce its anxiety level during an emergency. Audits are conducted on a yearly basis to provide the organization with an overview of disaster planning status and preparedness. This overview identifies overall site readiness, gaps and issues that can hamper our ability to operate. Using the results, initiatives, recommendations and resolutions are drafted to ensure Vancouver Community is disaster resilient and prepared for the curveballs life may throw at it.

Vancouver Community initiatives

• Disaster Response Plan – Grab & Go binder: This is a tool that was created for both Vancouver Community Admin on Call (AOC) and Vancouver Community sites to guide them during an emergency. Contents include:

1. Emergency Operations Centre / Incident Command Post procedures and set up checklists
2. Emergency Operations Centre / Incident Command Post Job Action Checklists
3. Emergency Operations Centre / Incident Command Post Forms and descriptions
4. Emergency contact lists
5. Staff call back procedures
6. Muster Area sign for facility evacuations, when necessary
7. Emergency Codes poster
8. Floor Warden checklist

• New Vancouver Community Emergency Operations Centre (EOC): An EOC provides strategic direction, multi-site coordination, information management and other work site support during an emergency. The new VC EOC is located in Vancouver General Hospital, which provides an easier link into the Vancouver Acute EOC when both are activated.

• Residential Care Emergency Plan Template Update: The update was necessary to standardize the information included in the emergency plan template, which will allow broader acceptance by other health care facilities.  This template is aimed at helping residential care sites develop their emergency plans as a licensing requirement that came into effect in 2009.

• Staff Emergency Response Guide: This guide is intended for each employee to have with them at home or in their backpack as a quick reference guide to common information staff would want to know during an emergency/incident.

• Functional Exercise: Testing the plan! The Vancouver Community Functional Exercise is scheduled for October 16, 2013.

In addition to the initiatives listed above, ongoing training has been provided to various Vancouver Community sites on topics such as “How to run an Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) or Incident Command Post (ICP)” and what staff needs to do to be personally prepared for emergencies, at home and at work.  All these activities are intended to get Vancouver Community as prepared as possible.

Remember, everyone, including organizations such as Vancouver Community, has to be prepared.  Emergencies can happen anytime, anywhere.

For more information, please visit Health Emergency Management intranet page