ANNEX C - EVACUATION AND RELOCATION

Evacuation. Certain events, such as fires or a hazardous materials speak, may require immediate evacuation to insure the safety of residents, staff, and visitors.

Pre-emergency.

  1. Identify and designate plainly marked exits, evacuation routes, and alternatives on master floor plan.
  • Plan safe routes - avoid wooden stairs, open stairwells, boiler rooms, windows, etc.
  • Assign handicapped or non-ambulatory residents to ground floor rooms, close to exits.
  • Designate facility compartments for internal evacuation and for planning the safest external evacuation routes.
  1. Inform staff and residents on exit locations and evacuation procedures.

Emergency Response.

  1. CALL 911
  1. KEEP RESIDENTS CALM.
  2. Evacuate residents in orderly fashion, according to physical condition.

Ambulatory

Wheelchair

Bedfast residents

  1. Search bathrooms, laundry room, storage closets and vacant rooms for stranded residents, visitors or staff and assist in their evacuation.
  1. Clear corridors of any obstructions such as carts, wheelchairs, etc.
  1. Recount residents to assure no missing residents.

If conditions permit.

  1. Remove resident records.
  1. Turn off electrical appliances.

Relocation.Other events such as long term power outagesmay require the relocation of residents. Describe the policies, role responsibilities and procedures for the evacuation of residents from the facility.

Pre-emergency.

  1. Identify the individual responsible for implementing facility relocation procedures.
  1. Identify residents who may require skilled transportation provided by local jurisdiction resources.
  1. Determine the number of ambulatory and non-ambulatory residents.
  1. Identify transportation arrangements made through mutual aid agreements or understandings that will be used to evacuate residents (Copies of the agreements must be attached as attachments ).
  1. Describe transportation arrangements for logistical support to include moving records, medications, food, water, and other necessities (Copies of the agreements must be attached as attachments).
  1. Identify facilities and include in the plan a copy of the mutual aid agreement that has been entered into with a facility to receive residents/patients (Copies of the agreements must be attached as annexes).
  1. Identify travel routes that will be used and secondary routes should the primary route be impassable.
  1. Specify the amount of time it will take to successfully relocate all patients/residents to the receiving facility.
  1. Specify the procedures that ensure facility staff will accompany relocating residents/patients.
  1. Identify procedures that will be used to keep track of residents once they have been relocated to include a log system.
  1. Determine what and how much each resident should take.
  1. Provide for a minimum of 72-hour stay, with provisions to extend this period of time if the disaster is of catastrophic magnitude.
  2. Establish procedures for responding to family inquiries about residents who have been relocated.
  1. Establish procedures for ensuring all residents are accounted for and are out of the facility.
  1. Determine at what point to begin the pre-positioning of necessary medical supplies and provisions.
  1. Specify at what point the mutual aid agreements for transportation and the notification of alternative facilities will begin.
Recovery.
Re-Entry.Once a facility has been evacuated or residents relocated, procedures need to be in place for allowing clients to re-enter the facility once authorized to do so by the appropriate authority
  1. Identify who is the responsible person(s) for authorizing re-entry to occur (Director, Owner, staff, etc.)
  1. Identify procedures for inspection of the facility to insure it is structurally sound and clean.
Mutual Aid Agreements

Mutual-aid agreement content will vary but items to consider addressing include the following elements or provisions:

  • definitions of key terms used in the agreement;
  • roles and responsibilities of individual parties;
  • procedures for requesting and providing assistance;
  • procedures, authorities, and rules for payment, reimbursement, and allocation of costs;
  • notification procedures;
  • protocols for interoperable communications;
  • relationships with other agreements among jurisdictions;
  • workers compensation;
  • treatment of liability and immunity;
  • recognition of qualifications and certifications; and
  • sharing agreements, as required.