Disaster Preparation

The 2 hospitals I worked in took disaster prep very seriously.

In the last one, I worked emergency and we all had an annual inservice as well as a couple of drills a year.

Ours has had multiple disaster drills and things are looking very very good! Ours has coordenated with local EMS (fire/police/Ambulance) to do these drills together with disaster relief teams and we are doing very well!

Last one I did (DRILL!!!), well..both hubby and I died (he is paramedic). He 'died' by getting out of his ambulance without proper clearing and was shot...me, I drank coffee from poisoned water! LOL!!!!!!!!! Oppsie! We both learned from that one! LOL! But it didn't stop there...clerical services were also in this...and had to FAKE notify our loved ones...and they reported the scenereo to us about how our families took the news...talk about horrid feeling! I was depressed for a few days! My son would have lost both parents in one day!!!!!!!!!

Talk about a drill...wow! But doing it from start to finish with all teams was a great learning experience! Heck, if I hadn't had that coffee I was still in trouble because with my hubby at work, I am the child care provider of the family and would need to go home..and would! So I would have been fired..but then again..fire is better than dead huh? LOL!!!!!

Lots to think about...and it isn't just policy/facility...but personal!