What role does the healthcare facility play preparing for the possibility of WMD use by terrorists?
It is truly horrifying to realize that weapons of mass destruction, or WMD, can be used by terrorists to achieve their end goals. However, recognizing the problem means being able to face and prevent it. The present-day healthcare services act in accordance with the Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Act of 1996 (McGlown 33); hence, their role can be viewed as WMD accidents management. The healthcare services cannot prevent the WMD related accidents; however, healthcare specialists must tend to the needs of the victims of a WMD related incident. In addition, the healthcare facility must provide training for nursing specialists so that they could assist those injured because of a WMD act of terror (McGlown 32). Therefore, it can be assumed that the role of healthcare organizations in preparing for the possibility of a WMD concerned training healthcare staff and spreading awareness, as well as instructing citizens on the course of actions in case of a WMD attack.
What is the responsibility of the hospital Emergency Department (ED) in the event of patient contamination problems?
One of the key steps to be undertaken in case of patient contamination related problems is defining the methods of patient decontamination (McGlown 64). In addition, to analyze the situation and define how big the problem has grown, hospital emergency department must carry out environmental sampling (McGlown 65). It is only after specifying the factors affecting the patients’ state that any further steps can be taken. The earlier the key factors are defined, the faster the decontamination process will take place, and the more satisfying its results are going to be. Finally, the ED is also responsible for the creation of Specialized National Medical Response Teams–Weapons of Mass Destruction (McGlown 59), which can provide immediate services to patients in case of WMD related incidents.
Therefore, the key measures that the ED is supposed to undertake can be defined as epidemiologic investigation, which allows for scanning the environment for the key factors inducing the contamination process, as well as eliminating these factors; medical treatment, which can be provided once the type of contamination has been defined and the appropriate treatment method has been specified; and prophylaxis, which includes observation of the affected people for the possible instances of recidivism and the initiation of decontamination related activities (McGlown 61).
What role does CQI play in an emergency preparedness program?
The so-called continuous quality improvement, or CQI, plays a major part in the emergency preparedness program (EPP). As McGlown explains, no emergency preparedness program can be complete without the given element, since the latter facilitates some of the key processes of an EPP. To be more exact, the CQI allows for planning every single stage of the EP carefully and, thus, prevents any obstacles from standing in the way of the EPP implementation.
According to McGlown, a standard CQI process presupposes that the existing deficiencies in the action plan that has been designed should be detected, isolated and dealt with. The procedure itself, however, does not imply that any changes should be done to the plan in the process of checking; instead, the specified issues are documented and only then attended to with due care by the respective department and the competent specialists.
It is remarkable that the CQI program updates every day so that there should be no dents in the EPP. In addition, CQI allows for addressing different aspects of security provision, thus, reinforcing the efficacy of the EPP. As McGlown explains, CQI includes “prospective, concurrent, and retrospective review” (McGlown 72). Thus, previous experiences are used in order to design future strategies and track the efficacy of the current ones.
Works Cited
McGlown, Joanne K. Terrorism and Disaster Management: Preparing Healthcare Leaders for the New Reality. Chicago, IL: Health Administration Press. 2004. Print.