Staffing a Major Academic Medical Center During a Long Term Disaster

An emergency preparedness planning process model and emergency preparedness planning process map were created based upon the pandemic planning process implemented by a large Midwestern health system. The emergency preparedness planning model and process map can be used to assist researchers, practitioners, and health care professionals of large and small health care centers in emergency preparedness planning preparations. The pandemic planning process implemented by the health system was examined to determine best practices regarding emergency preparedness planning. Research and theory from the fields of organizational development, federal disaster planning, and injury prevention were surveyed to determine the proper planning procedures for the health system pandemic outbreak. From a review of the literature, six critical planning criteria were determined to be important for an effective disaster planning process: the determination of environmental factors, proper problem definition, proper problem specificity, generation of multiple solutions, evaluation of solutions prior to implementation, and the inclusion of a feedback loop. Data collection utilized survey responses and document reviews to help build the emergency preparedness planning model and process map.