February 1, 2010 The Center for Biosecurity at UPMC conducted a 2 year, comprehensive assessment of the HHS Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP) and developed recommendations for improving and evaluating future hospital preparedness efforts.
The report finds that, while U.S. hospitals are significantly better prepared for disasters and public health emergencies now than they were in 2001, much work remains to be done especially in regard to catastrophic health events (CHE), such as large earthquakes, pandemic influenza, or the aftermath of nuclear or biological terrorism, which could sicken or injure tens of thousands.
Some of the recommendations of the report include:
- US hospitals should participate in a healthcare coalition that prepares and responds collaboratively to common medical disasters and Catastrophic Health Events
- Neighboring healthcare coalitions should establish links enable regional exchange of health-care information and assets during a CHE
- Triage sites should be established outside of hospitals and healthcare responders should be trained in CHE triage
- The resources of the private sector should be harnessed to develop a patient transportation system for a CHE
- Crisis standards of care should be expanded and promoted within and across states
- A national plan for various healthcare sector roles, responsibilities and actions in response to a CHE should be developed
View the Full Report: The Next Challenge in Healthcare Preparedness: Catastrophic Health Events
http://www.upmc-biosecurity.org/prepreport | 
