We live in a high-risk, disaster-prone region that can be subject to hazards such as bushfire, storms, flash flooding, river flooding, heatwaves, power and communications outages, road closures and more.
Health and residential services that know their risks, plan and stay informed, respond and recover better from disaster and emergency events.
Plan
It is essential that allied health, general practice and residential aged care services have a comprehensive, localised Emergency Plan and a Business Continuity Plan ready to activate during disasters and emergencies.
Create Your Plan
Know Your Risks
Stay Informed
Helping Patients Plan
Respond
During a disaster or emergency incident, you should act and respond by implementing your Emergency Plan and Business Continuity Plan, ensuring your team are aware of their roles and responsibilities, and that you have any emergency equipment and supplies ready.
Monitor the Situation
Your Operational Status
Telehealth Exemptions
Continued Dispensing
Evacuation Centres
Cold Chain Management
Recover
After an incident, focus on reinstating normal operations by assessing impacts and supporting staff and patients. It is important to review your Emergency Plan and Business Continuity Plan and note any learnings to strengthen future preparedness.
Insurance Claims and Financial Assistance
General Practice Accreditation Extension
Recovery Centres
Looking After Yourself
Mental Health Services for Patients
Mental Health Resources
Crisis Helplines
Select a relevant group:
Planning Resources for Allied Health
Allied health specific templates, information and resources for emergency and disaster planning:
- Our PHN – has developed a General Practice Disaster Planning Toolkit but this can easily be adapted for an allied health practice
- Occupational Therapy Australia – provides Crisis and Disaster Response information and resources.
- The Pharmacy Guild of Australia – provides Emergency Planning & Risk Mitigation information and resources
- The Australian Council of Social Services – provides allied health providers working in Community settings with policies and procedures for disasters and emergencies
- HealthPathways – our HealthPathways team led the national development of a suite of pathways addressing Disaster Planning and Management and recovery
- Other allied health peak bodies may also provide useful resources
Planning Resources for General Practice
General practice specific templates, information and resources for emergency and disaster planning:
- Our PHN – has developed a General Practice Disaster Planning Toolkit specifically for general practice
- The RACGP – provides Managing Emergencies and Disasters in General Practice resources and guidance for general practice teams including The RACGP Emergency Response Planning Tool
- HealthPathways – our team led the national development of a suite of pathways addressing Disaster Planning and Management including practice preparedness and recovery
- Your practice’s accreditation portal may also provide useful resources
Planning Resources for Residential Aged Care
The Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards outline that residential aged care homes (RACH) must:
- Develop emergency and disaster management plans that describe how the provider and aged care workers will respond to an emergency or disaster.
- Implement strategies to prepare for and respond to an emergency or disaster and to manage risks to the health, safety and wellbeing of residents and aged care workers.
- Engage with residents, their families and aged care workers about the emergency and disaster management plans.
- Regularly test and review the emergency and disaster management plans in partnership with residents, their families, aged care workers and other response partners.
Your Emergency Plan Should Include:
- Evacuation and shelter-in-place scenarios
- Suitable transport options – arrange accessible transport for residents, including those with mobility needs
- Communication protocols – maintain clear communication with staff, families and emergency services
- Coordination with local agencies – build relationships with your local emergency, community and government services before an event
- Infection control measures -adhere to protocols to prevent outbreaks
- Adequate supplies – stockpile necessary medications, food, water and personal protective equipment (PPE)
- Plans to maintain power and communication lines – have backup generators or a plan to access a generator and communication devices
- Contact with other RACHs in your local area to agree on how you can offer mutual support (eg. if your RACH is affected by a fire or another emergency and needs to close, you have a plan in place to direct your residents to a nearby RACH until the risk has been averted)
- Checklists and up-to-date contact lists – such as emergency services, suppliers and family members – which will be key during an emergency response
Preparing Residents
Talk to your residents and their families about your plan and encourage them to prepare too. Evacuation can be scary and unpredictable. Giving residents and their families a level of autonomy in preparing their own “go bag” allows them to have a sense of control in an otherwise unpredictable situation. Pillowcases can even be used for this purpose.
Preparing Staff
Many of your staff may live close to your RACH. It is important to encourage them to have their own emergency plan and to consider, in your emergency planning, which staff may be impacted by an event that affects your service.
Training and Exercises
- Evacuation exercises – regularly conduct drills to ensure all staff are prepared
- Mandatory training – is essential for all staff within the home to ensure they are prepared
- Regularly testing and reviewing emergency management plans – will improve your outcomes
Useful Tools and Templates
The following links provide guidance to support emergency planning and response in aged care:
- Our PHN – has developed a Guide for Residential Aged Care Homes to help prepare your staff and residents that can be saved and printed to support your emergency planning
- Ageing Australia – provides resources covering all aspects of emergency management in aged care settings
- The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing – provides national guidance and tools and checklists support preparation, service continuity and emergency events in aged care including a fact sheet for relocating residents and a Caring for Older People in Heatwaves – Checklist to help care for older people during extreme heat.
Our Role
Our primary objectives in supporting primary care disaster and emergency management are to:
- coordinate: support and coordinate the primary care contribution to disaster management in the Blue Mountains, Hawkesbury, Lithgow and Penrith areas
- build capacity: assist local primary care providers in health emergency planning, response and recovery
- support continuity of access: assist local primary care providers to plan for and maintain continuity of operation during emergencies, where safe to do so
- support resilience: work with primary care and partners to support preparedness of the most at-risk patients
- maintain strong relationships: work closely with Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District, primary care providers, local councils, and other disaster management and community stakeholders
Learn how we can help you with disaster and emergency management.
