Since 911, where has the urgency gone? Are we really prepared?

From Are We Really Prepared?--Part I in CARING's last issue, it was determined that all agencies have updated their emergency preparedness plans. However, Universal ID Cards for home health care workers do not exist at this time. The study also revealed that most agencies have not increased inter-agency cooperation. In Part II of this study, we learned that some agencies have improved their communication capabilities whereas others remain limited in their attempts to upgrade to this recommendation. Transportation issues during an emergency/disaster situation continue to be a major area of concern for all homecare providers. The agencies that appeared to be best prepared for an emergency were the larger home care providers with the most resources, both technical and financial. While the larger agencies still remain vulnerable in an emergency situation, the smaller, less technically and financially equipped agencies would benefit from partnering with the larger home care companies. Critical to any emergency preparedness and response endeavor is the capacity to maintain or re-establish a "command operations center", and to insure the ability of essential employees to communicate with each other in an attempt to direct or redirect caregivers to their highest priority patients. Engaging the assistance of patients' families, significant others, and emergency contacts is crucial in our endeavor to be prepared for all emergency and catastrophic events. In addition, because the transportation infrastructure, power grid and communication network all continue to be susceptible to failure, insuring that critical personnel (especially direct care workers) have a personal family emergency back-up plan in place increases the likelihood of successfully responding to an emergency or disaster, and fulfilling the central mission of the home care provider--maintaining continuity of services to all patients. Considering governmental failures in responding to the hurricanes in Florida and the Gulf Coast, it becomes paramount for every individual to develop contingency plans for any and all emergency/disaster events.