Emergency Preparedness Drill Oct. 9th for DOH-Regulated Providers
The Department of Health (DOH) Office of Health Emergency Preparedness (OHEP) will be conducting an emergency preparedness drill on Tues., Oct. 9, 2018. The drill will test Interoperable Communications (IOC) in the event of an emergency. The drill will be statewide, with the exception of the five boroughs of New York City. New York City will be conducting their own drill on another date. Nursing homes, adult care facilities, home care providers, and hospice providers will be included in the drill.
Members are encouraged to participate; however, participation is voluntary. That being said, those providers that are held to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) emergency preparedness rule (e.g. Certified Home Health Agencies (CHHAs) and hospices) can use this drill to count toward the requirement for a full-scale exercise. The drill may also be counted toward the state requirement that Licensed Home Care Services Agencies (LHCSAs) participate annually in at least one agency-specific or community-wide disaster drill and exercise.
Participating in the drill is simple. An IHANS notification will go out asking you to complete a brief three-question survey quickly after receiving the message. Click here for additional information from OHEP on the drill, including the objectives, and here for an abbreviated After-Action Report template for documentation of the outcome of the drill.
The IHANS message that will be sent on Oct. 9th will be directed to key Health Commerce System (HCS) roles for your organization. Thus, we strongly encourage you to log into the HCS now to ensure that those roles (and any other HCS roles in the Communications Directory) are populated and up to date at this time. Click here for information regarding populating the 24/7 contact role on the HCS, as it is located in a different place than the other roles on the HCS.
Again, this is only a drill; it is not a real emergency. DOH encourages participation to exercise how providers will communicate in the event of an emergency.
Contact: Elliott Frost, efrost@leadingageny.org; Diane Darbyshire, ddarbyshire@leadingageny.org; and Meg Everett, meverett@leadingageny.org. All can be reached at 518-867-8383.