ISS Quarterly Topics

A dozen things to know about Emergency Management

Apr 11, 2019, 15:29 PM by Emergency Planning

  1. Each healthcare area (all areas) should have a copy of the Emergency Procedures Manual and all employees should know where it is located.
  2. A copy of the Institutional Emergency Operations Plan and all major emergency planning documents are online (currently in iSpace, accessible via web) and all staff with a valid UTMB network password have access. The Emergency Operations Plan applies to all UTMB facilities including clinic sites.
  3. For internal disasters such as a bomb threat, staff should review the emergency preparedness plan for specific instructions. Staff should call police for any threat to security or safety. Police will respond and provide incident-specific direction.
  4. A number of Incident Specific Response Guides (IRGs) are included as annexes to the Emergency Operations Plans, to aid the incident command.
  5. Under the Incident Command System, the first to arrive on scene or to become aware of the incident is the incident commander until relieved by a more experienced person. UTMB follows this principle.
  6. The institutional emergency preparedness officer (IEPO) at UTMB is Dr. Gulshan Sharma; Mike Mastrangelo is the program director for institutional preparedness and the manager is Fritz Kuelbler.
  7. For incidents or events where we have warning, such as a hurricane, the UTMB president will be incident commander unless he or she delegates that authority.
  8. All UTMB staff are required to have documented onboarding and annual emergency preparedness training. They should know their emergency role and to whom they would report in an emergency; all staff should meet with their supervisor each year to review these items. At this meeting you should fill out an Annual Acknowledgement form (required by UTMB policy).
  9. As part of the process, employee and students should review and update their emergency contact information in the UTMB Directory. This information is used to populate UTMB’s emergency notification system.
  10. For Licensed Independent Practitioners (LIPS): Managers must review LIPs’ emergency roles (and to whom the LIP would report in an emergency) at their annual review of emergency roles. UTMB's Annual Acknowledgement Form has specific entries to record information for these care providers. 
  11. In general: unless assigned a specific role in the Command Center; staff will perform their regular duties during emergencies – but may be assigned specific tasks based on the nature of the emergency.
  12. The Emergency Plan site also features information describing emergency preparedness steps to safeguard your home, family and pets. Because hurricanes are one of the region's highest priority risks, each employee should have an up-to-date family hurricane preparedness plan.