King County Healthcare Coalition

Prepare & Respond

The National Response Framework, developed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), outlines a comprehensive approach for federal, state, local, tribal and other agencies to work together to manage domestic incidents. At the federal level Emergency Support Function 8 - Public Health and Medical Services (ESF-8) of the National Response Framework assigns responsibility of coordination to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and at the state and local level this falls to State Departments of Health and local Public Health respectively.

The purpose of ESF-8 is to provide organization, mobilization, and coordination of health and medical services during and following an emergency or disaster. It includes the assessment of public health/medical needs (including behavioral health); public health surveillance; medical care personnel; and medical equipment and supplies.

Public Health collaborates with the members of the Healthcare Coalition, EMS the Medical Examiner and other critical partners to ensure that the objectives of ESF-8 are met.

PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE

Healthcare coalition work should be consistent with local, state and federal planning requirements and priorities so planning and response work is coordinated.

The National Incident Management System (NIMS) and the Incident Command System (ICS) give health jurisdictions across the nation standardized planning and management guidelines to prepare, respond and recover from domestic emergency incidents. These systems offer a unified approach to incident management among all response organizations.

In order for a Healthcare Coalition to develop a response structure that reflects ICS and integrates with regional response as well as incorporate elements of NIMS implementation, healthcare organizations are required to execute NIMS implementation activities. Implementation activities may vary upon the category of healthcare organization and can include:

• Organizational Adoption
• Command and Management
• Preparedness Planning
• Preparedness Training
• Preparedness Exercises
• Resource Management
• Communication and Information Management

NIMS defines hospital and healthcare systems as all facilities that receive medical and trauma emergency patients on a daily basis.