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Four Phases of Emergency Management

The four phases of Emergency Management make up a continuous cycle of planning and action undertaken by the Department of Emergency Management to ensure Upstate Medical University and Hospital maintain a comprehensive approach to Emergency Management, while maximizing the safety of staff, students, visitors and patients. The four phases are:

Mitigation

Mitigation is the most cost-efficient method for reducing the impact of hazards. A precursor activity to mitigation is the identification of risks. Physical risk assessment refers to the process of identifying and evaluating hazards. The higher the risk, the more urgent the need is to target hazard specific vulnerabilities through mitigation efforts. One example of mitigation at University Hospital is the 96 Hour Business Continuity Plan, which includes mitigation strategies and plans that have been developed to ensure continuity of operations in areas such as utilities, communications, food, water, medication, staffing, and medical supplies when the community is unable to support the hospital due to an external disaster scenario.

Preparedness

Preparedness is a continuous cycle of planning, organizing, training, equipping, exercising, evaluation, and improvement activities that allows Upstate Medical University and Hospital to ensure effective coordination and the enhancement of capabilities to prevent, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate against disaster events that have been identified within the Hazard Vulnerability Analysis (HVA).

In the preparedness phase, the Emergency Management Department develops plans of action to manage and counter risks and takes action to build the necessary capabilities needed to implement such plans.

Response

The Response phase includes the mobilization of the identified emergency staff, including first responders, to an internal or external event which could have an impact on patient care operations or the campus. Response procedures are pre-determined by the university and hospital, and are detailed in disaster plans during the Preparedness phase. Response to an internal or external incident on campus or in the hospital is directed through the Incident Command System (ICS). Response plans remain flexible in nature due to the varying members of staff available at any given time.

Response procedures and plans are constantly evaluated and changed based on improvements identified during After Action Reviews (AARs), which are held after training exercises and disaster responses. Response actions are also evaluated regularly by the campus and hospital through drills, exercises, tracers, and live events.

Recovery

The aim of the Recovery phase is to restore the affected area to its previous state. It differs from the Response phase in its focus: recovery efforts are concerned with issues and decisions that must be made after immediate needs are addressed. Recovery efforts are primarily concerned with actions that involve rebuilding destroyed property, re-employment, the repair of other essential infrastructure, as well as the re-opening of essential services in the hospital.

Recovery operations are an extremely important phase in the Emergency Management continuum and yet one that is often overlooked. The Incident Command System team is responsible for the implementation of the Recovery phase.

Hazard Vulnerability Analysis

The basis of the "All Hazards" approach starts with Upstate Medical University and Hospital's Hazard Vulnerability Analysis (HVA). The HVA identifies disasters and other events from a technological, natural, man-made and hazardous materials perspective which are most likely to impact the Upstate community. These events are ranked in order of severity and greatest impact to Upstate Medical University and Hospital. A risk factor is obtained for each identified hazard by ranking probability, human impact, property impact, business impact, and overall preparedness from both internal and external response entities.

The Hazard Vulnerability Analysis is reviewed annually, or as required by leadership and the Emergency Management Committee. The HVA, including the top five ranked disasters, is shared with community government and emergency response agencies including the Office of Emergency Management, Public Health, Emergency Medical Services (EMS), Police, Fire, and the Medical Examiner's (ME) office.

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