Disaster Preparedness, A nurse leader s role: Hurricane Harvey. Emily Weber MS RN CPN NEA-BC Nursing Director. February 23, 2018

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1 Disaster Preparedness, A nurse leader s role: Hurricane Harvey Emily Weber MS RN CPN NEA-BC Nursing Director February 23, 2018

2 About Texas Children s 500 bed free-standing academic pediatric hospital Adjoining high-risk obstetric 115 bed hospital Community Campuses: - West (Katy) 60 beds - North (The Woodlands) 60 beds Affiliated with the Baylor College of Medicine Nationally ranked top children s hospitals by US News & World Report and Parents magazine Magnet designation from ANCC

3 Hurricane Harvey - WHAT HAPPENED? 4 Category 4 Hurricane % Miles per hour - Highest wind speed of Harris County was covered with at least 1.5 feet nd Inches of rain experienced by some areas Reported deaths from the storm Costliest natural disaster in U.S. history $160 billion total damages estimated 136,000 Buildings flooded in Houston and surrounding areas

4 Preparation & Activation Advisory Alert Activation Partial June 2017: Hurricane Jasmine exercise for leaders Registration of employees for ride-out and relief teams Week of Aug. 14 th : Began tracking storm; forecast for strong tropical storm or hurricane next week Tues, Aug. 22 nd : Pre-planning; schedule adjustments (patients & employees) Thurs, Aug. 24 th : Harvey predicted to be Cat 3 Hurricane with landfall Sat. morning on coast Activation Full Fri, Aug. 25 th : 24x7 Command Centers open at each campus; planned full activation of employees planned for Saturday Sat, Aug 26 th : Full activation of ride-out team at 7:00 am dayshift & nightshift employees called in Wide-spread flooding Saturday night

5 Response Incident command Six Command Centers representing Incident Command, Operations, Logistics, West Campus and Woodlands Set-up and staffed 24 x 7 for 6 days 2500 staff, physicians and patients rode-out the storm Sleeping arrangements in clinic building 22,520 meals served

6 Concerns with patient transport Patients dropped off by Houston Fire Department via dump truck Hospital entrance later in the storm Page 6

7 Dialysis Patients unable to access hospital 33 Dialysis patients with last treatment on Saturday Patients must be dialyzed three to four days a week Texas Children s coordinated transport with the U.S. Coast Guard Air evacuation of 33 patients from around the Houston area to Memorial Hermann s helistop followed by ambulance transport to Texas Children s Hospital

8 Pharmaceutical Resupply Texas Children s Pharmacy needed a resupply of critical pharmaceuticals Supplier based out of Shreveport, LA Unable to get truck into Houston due to floodwaters TCH Security reached out to Emergency Management to secure a landing zone Army Reserve Aviation Unit contacted Able to secure transport from Conroe Regional Airport to Woman s Hospital helistop Moved 250 pounds of critical pharmaceuticals

9 Pediatric Patients at other hospitals - St. Joseph s Two pediatric patients, rapidly deteriorating condition, in need of transfer to TCH from St. Josephs Hospital (Downtown Houston) Hospital inaccessible by ambulance due to flooding Secured use of Methodist helistop; then reported to be closed due to flooding Received permission to land at Woman s Hospital helipad Coordinated transport with U.S. Coast Guard Station Galveston Patients transported to Woman s Hospital helipad with ambulance transport to Texas Children s (5 miles)

10 Support for patients and families Page 10

11 Support for employees Prayer Exercise Flowers Executives serving food Love Page 11

12 Hurricane Harvey Lessons learned Preparation pays off Call activation early to ensure adequate staff Ensure plan covers extended disasters Rely on robust communication Emergency paging system, huddles & phone calls with scripts, s Think out of the box when faced with problems Storm is gone; recovery efforts begin Support employee impacted by storm Page 12