EMSystems Clients participate in nation-wide emergency hospital exercise

EMSystems Clients participate in nation-wide emergency hospital exercise

MILWAUKEE – An unprecedented number of EMSystems statewide clients successfully participated in a nation-wide National Hospital Available Beds for Emergencies and Disasters (or HAvBED) exercise. EMSystems’ clients who participated in this large-scale reporting exercise included Michigan, Idaho, Arkansas, Arizona, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. In accordance with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) / Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP) Grant Guidance, this exercise required Hospital Available Beds for Emergencies and Disaster (HAvBED) reports to be submitted to the Department of Health and Human Services / Secretary Operations Center (SOC) within a 4 hour time period.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) sponsored the drill and organized exercise logistics and communications. States were alerted when the HAvBED exercise began and when the statewide data was to be received. The objective of this exercise was to evaluate interoperable communications, accuracy and efficiencies of aggregated and statewide HAvBED data as part of a state’s emergency preparedness plan.
EMSystems’ clients used EMResource™ to notify hospitals of the exercise, collect HAvBED data from each respective hospital within the state, aggregate and approve the summary data, and submit the HAvBED results automatically to DHHS/SOC portal system. EMResource strengthens information sharing and collaboration capability of emergency response assets between hospitals, first responders, state and local health departments.
“The National HAvBED reporting exercise provided an opportunity for Michigan to submit data to the DHHS HAvBED site using EMResource. The process to update bed status was user friendly and the submission was a simple click of the mouse” states Linda Scott, Bioterrorism Hospital Coordinator for Michigan Department of Community Health.
Once again, EMSystems has proven their dedication to providing a comprehensive solution for emergency management. Their willingness to provide a link between their EMResource system and the DHHS/SOC portal system enabled us to exceed our goals for the nation-wide HAvBED exercise. Idaho and its citizens are much more prepared for an emergency thanks to the hard work and excellent customer service consistently provided by the team at EMSystems,” states Danny Warn, Program System Specialist for Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.
“The entire State of Arkansas’ Hospital Preparedness Network succeeded in our first national HAvBED Availability reporting. Every participant responded within 60 minutes to a national update request through EMResource. We were able to respond to the HHS, through EMResource, with our report within 90 minutes of the required 4-hour time frame for national reporting. This is excellent reflection of the commitment level in our Arkansas hospitals,” states Melody Parsley, Coordinator for Arkansas Department of Health.
A leader in emergency communication and tracking solutions, EMSystems assisted in writing the HAVE data schema under the direction of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Their EMResource system meets and exceeds the HAVE requirements as a browser-based, real-time emergency resource tracking and management application. This standard enables communication of hospital statuses and its resources to other emergency agencies, and includes: the aggregation of data at region and state levels, displaying hospital identification information, reporting bed capacity by various categories, ED diversion status, decontamination facilities and ventilator availability status.
“This nation-wide drill was a great example of the value that EMResource delivers to an emergency preparedness plan. In a disaster or emergency situation, it is essential for statewide hospitals to communicate with each other quickly and efficiently. EMResource was a critical success factor for our clients’ performance in this exercise,” states Andy Nunemaker, CEO, EMSystems.
EMSystems, LLC is a recognized leading provider of comprehensive and interoperable technology solutions for emergency preparedness and response within the healthcare continuum. Serving more than 70% of the nation’s population, EMSystems’ solutions are used by thousands of hospitals, EMS providers, fire departments, law enforcement agencies and state/local departments of health. These comprehensive solutions improve real-time communications, multi-media alerting, inventory resource allocation, volunteer registry management, patient and evacuee tracking, and pre-hospital patient care records to enhance emergency preparedness and response to medical emergencies, mass casualty events, and public health incidents. EMSystems is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Additional information is available at www.emsystems.com.