TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - Chapter 9. Preparedness for Catastrophe A1 - Walls, Jeffrey G. A1 - Farmer, J. Christopher A2 - Hall, Jesse B. A2 - Schmidt, Gregory A. A2 - Wood, Lawrence D.H. Y1 - 2005 N1 - T2 - Principles of Critical Care, 3e AB - The intensive care unit medical director should play an active role in each hospital's disaster planning.The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations requires that each hospital develop, implement, and regularly test a disaster plan.A hazard vulnerability analysis should be conducted by each hospital to identify threats to care of patients specific to its region.Preparation should coordinate all community resources and not be focused on a single ICU or hospital.Each ICU medical director should identify his or her role within the emergency command structure (typically the hospital emergency incident command system).Back-up methods of communication such as walkie-talkies should be acquired and tested to ensure reliable communication between the ICU and the hospital command center.A pool of potential volunteer ICU medical personnel should be identified prior to a disaster and mechanisms put into place to provide emergency credentialing.An active disaster education program should be created to keep all ICU personnel up to date.Participation in realistic disaster exercises is important to identify problems within each hospital's plan and to reinforce education. SN - PB - The McGraw-Hill Companies CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2023/03/31 UR - accessanesthesiology.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=2297257 ER -