Filtered by category: Emergency Preparedness Clear Filter

Legionnaires’ Disease presents grave threat to U.S. healthcare facilities

CDC said 25 percent of cases in hospitals and long-term care settings resulted in deaths during 2015

Legionnaires’ Disease (LD) cases and outbreaks anywhere are alarming enough, but when they occur in healthcare settings, they can be downright deadly.

According to 2015 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 25 percent of cases of LD, a serious lung infection caused by Legionella bacteria, acquired in hospitals or long-term care facilities were fatal. The fatality rate in the general population was 10 percent.



Read More

Readiness Associates unveils new, streamlined version of emergency preparedness self-assessment survey

American College of Health Care Administrators membership invited to gauge their risk in the event of a disaster

By Bob Reinert, Marketing, Content and PR Director, Readiness Associates

Among its most important benefits, the new strategic partnership between the American College of Health Care Administrators (ACHCA) and Readiness Associates (RA) gives ACHCA members the opportunity to assess their own vulnerabilities to natural and man-caused disasters.

Read More

Be Prepared: The Administrator’s Leadership Role in Emergency Preparedness

Be Prepared!   The motto of the Boy Scouts of America has never been as true for many Nursing Home Administrators as it has during the recent events of the nursing home tragedies that have occurred in Texas and Florida during Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. For many nursing home Administrators, being prepared for an emergency, or disruptive event, is the ultimate responsibility; a high priority. The CMS final rules of participation on Emergency Preparedness which takes effect on November 15, 2017 will only add another layer of regulations to an already heavily regulated environment for the Administrator.

One certainty that will face all Nursing Home Administrators (in the wake of Florida) will be that the CMS and State surveyors will be reviewing (in detail) a facility’s emergency plan, and in some cases “ripping” it to shreds.  How can Administrators be sure that the emergency plan they have will meet requirements?  Until we begin to see how deficiencies will be cited by surveyors, this question remains to be answered. Regardless of outcomes, the Administrator must have an emergency plan and documented exercises that have tested the plan.

Read More
2 Comments