Emergency Management
21 Pages
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Emergency Management
Welcome to the Greater Baltimore
Medical Center Emergency
Management CBL
Contents:
This computer-based learning (CBL)
course helps employees deal with
emergency situations including external or
internal disasters, patients or staff in
danger, bomb threats, and hostage
situations.
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Emergency Management
Click the links below to jump to selected topics in this program.
Introduction
Disaster Plans
Plan Highlights
Summary
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Emergency Management
Overview
This program prepares employees to act during both natural
and man-made disasters occurring either inside or outside
hospital walls.
A disaster is any event that results in:
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a number of deaths, injuries, and illnesses
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extensive property damage
disruption of two or more department / services
A disaster also includes a loss of essential utilities that cannot
be managed effectively with routine procedures or resources.
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Emergency Management
Overview
Internal disasters occur inside the hospital's walls. External
disasters occur outside the hospital's walls.
Internal and external disasters may include:
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Mass casualties
Severe weather
Emergency evacuations
Bomb threats
Hostage situations
Telephone failures
Electrical failures
Water outages
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Emergency Management
Overview
This course describes many
aspects of emergency
management. For more
information:
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talk with the Critical
Incident Coordinator
consult your Safety
Manual
view additional safetyrelated CBL courses
available at GBMC.
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Emergency Management
Activation
Hospital administrators
decide when to put a
disaster plan in effect.
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Depending on the disaster, they contact personnel to
assist in coordinating a response.
The disaster code is announced when the plan is
implemented.
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Emergency Management
Disaster Codes
The disaster code for this hospital is:
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Code Yellow
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Emergency Management
Guidelines
When the disaster plan is activated, employees on duty should:
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complete their present duty in a timely manner
report to their immediate supervisor and await further
instructions
instruct visitors to remain in the appropriate patient room
or area
return patients to their rooms if possible (for example,
from rehab services or x-ray)
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Emergency Management
Guidelines
Maintain patient confidentiality.

Do not discuss disaster information with anyone other
than appropriate staff.
Use telephones only when necessary and try to leave at least
one line open at all times.
Direct all questions and information to the Department Head or
Command Center.
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Emergency Management
The hospital has an emergency phone back-up system (red
telephones) that will automatically become operable if our main
telephone system goes down.
You will need to dial all 10 digits when using this emergency
back-up system.
A list of these telephone locations and their extensions is
contained in the Disaster Plan.
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Emergency Management
Bomb Threat
An employee receiving a bomb threat by
phone should:
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ask the caller for the location of
the bomb and when it will explode
immediately ask a co-worker to alert security of the
condition
document all information received from the caller as per
policy #835 in the Safety Manual.
Remember as much as possible about the caller's voice, what
was said, and background noises (planes, automobiles, music,
or bells).
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Emergency Management
Bomb Threat
Employees should also:
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note if the caller is familiar with the hospital by their
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description of locations
keep calm and keep talking with the caller to get more
information, such as a description of the bomb and the
type of detonator
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Emergency Management
Bomb Threat
All employees in the immediate area of
the bomb should remember:
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Search for and report any
suspicious objects. DO NOT
move, jar, or touch the object or
anything attached to the
suspicious object(s).
Check public access areas first. These include
restrooms, vacant areas, telephone booths, admitting,
locker rooms, ER, lobby/waiting areas, and patient
rooms.
DO NOT turn lights on or off.
DO turn off all two-way radios, cell phones, and pagers.
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Emergency Management
Bomb Threat
Any employee who finds a suspicious
package must NOT touch the object.
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Immediately notify security.
Patient evacuation shall be
determined and implemented by
the Administrator-on-Call or their designee.
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Hotword Definitions
suspicious Letter and parcel bomb recognition points
package include:
 title but no name
 excessive postage
 oil stains or discolorations
 excessive weight
 lopsided or uneven envelope
 visual distractions
 incorrect titles
 no return address
 rigid envelope
 foreign mail, air mail, or special delivery
 restrictive markings such as "confidential"
or "personal"
 hand written or poorly typed address
 excessive security material such as tape or
string
 misspellings of common words
 protruding wires or tinfoil
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Emergency Management
Bomb Threats
The employee who receives a bomb threat by mail should:
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immediately notify security
avoid handling the letter
Do not share the contents with co-workers.
The security officer who is told that a bomb threat has been
received should:
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immediately notify the security director
respond according to procedures established by GBMC
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Emergency Management
Patient or Staff in Danger
Our staff has both a legal and ethical duty to keep any person
from harming himself or others.
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Behavior escalation does not occur by itself -- someone
lets the situation get out of control.
Staff members who interact with potentially violent individuals
must realize their behavior has a tremendous impact on the
possibly violent individual.
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Employees should balance or offset the person's
behavior with a helpful, calming response.
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Emergency Management
Patient or Staff in Danger
If talking with the person does not help and the person begins to
threaten, fight, or attack, security is notified and manages the
situation.
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Security Officers should use the least force necessary to
physically quiet or restrain the person.
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Emergency Management
Other Emergency Code Phrases
In addition to the disaster code phrase (Code Yellow), there are
several other code phrases:
Code Red Fire
x3473
Code Blue Cardiac Arrest
x2300
Code Pink Infant/Child Abduction x2222
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Evacuation
Be prepared to evacuate the building in the event of an
emergency.
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Horizontal: When at all possible, evacuate patients or
staff to the opposite end of the corridor from the location
of the emergency. Depending on the situation, you may
evacuate to the nearest adjacent nursing unit or
department beyond the fire door.
Emergency drills are conducted regularly to test emergency
preparedness.
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Emergency Management
Be prepared for all types of disasters.

Know your role and be prepared to act immediately.
Know and understand employee responses to all emergency
codes.
For more information about emergency preparedness
management, see the Critical Incident Coordinator or review the
safety manual.
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Emergency Management
We hope this Computer Based Learning course has been both
informative and helpful.
Feel free to review this course until you are confident about
your knowledge of the material presented.
Click the Take Test button on the left side when you are ready
to complete the requirements for this course.
Click on the My Records button to return to your CBL Courses
to Complete list.
Click the Exit button on the left to close the Student Interface.
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