Welcome to ZZ Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

II. PLANNING & PREPAREDNESS ACTIVITIES

Mitigation, Preparedness, Response & Recovery
The Emergency Management Committee directs the development of specific emergency response plans based on priorities established as part of the Center's Hazard Vulnerability Analysis (HVA).  Each emergency response plan addresses the four phases of emergency management activities:

Mitigation: Activities designed to reduce the risk of and potential damage due to an emergency (i.e., the installation of stand-by or redundant equipment, training).

Preparedness: Activities to organize and mobilize essential resources (i.e., plan-writing, employee education, preparation with outside agencies, acquiring and maintaining critical supplies).

Response: Activities the Center undertakes to respond to disruptive events.  The actions are designed with strategies and actions to be activated during the emergency (i.e., control, warnings, and evacuations).

Recovery: Activities the Center undertakes to return the facility to complete business operations.  Short-term actions assess damage and return vital life-support operations to minimum operating standards.  Long-term focus on returning all hospital operations back to normal or an improved state of affairs.

Hazard Vulnerability Analysis (HVA)
The Center conducts an annual hazard vulnerability analysis (HVA) to:

Identify emergency situations that could occur in the environment of care.

Assess the likelihood and potential impact on the institution and the community.

Assess the Center's preparedness to respond to and recover from them.

Prioritize the Center's current emergency management activities and in conjunction with community partners identify necessary changes, additional planning activities, and specific exercise scenarios.

Through the HVA process, the Center has compiled information to guide identification and response to potential system failures and impacts. They include:

Mission Critical Systems Analysis which outlines essential systems and operational impact from service disruption. (Appendix B)

System Failures & Basic Staff Mitigation Response which notes how disruption is detected, and delineates mitigation, and clinical interventions. (Appendix B)

Incident Specific Response Plans
Incident Specific Response Plans (Appendix C) are developed and maintained for each risk identified as priorities in the HVA. Where applicable, plans are developed to assure consistency and coordination with city-wide response objectives and to define MSK's role in such events.

Alternate Care/Surge Strategy

Behavioral Support

Biological Event

Bomb Threat

Chemical Event

Chemical Spill

Civil Disorder

Communication System

Decontamination

Earthquake

Evacuation

Fire Emergency

Flood (internal or external)

Information Systems Failure

Internal Radiation Accident

Lockdown

Nuclear Event

Oxygen System Failure

Pandemic

Public Transportation Strike

Radiological Event

Utility Interruptions

Vacuum System Failure

Weather Emergency

Critical Asset Assessment Planning
The Center maintains an ongoing assessment of assets and capabilities to evaluate its capacity to sustain continuity of operations without the support of the community for 96 hours in six critical areas:

Communications

Safety and security

Resources and assets

Utilities

Staffing

Clinical activities

This process assists the Incident Commander in monitoring the Center's response and sustainability and identifies steps to be taken to continue, modify or cease hospital operations. The 96 Hour Sustainability Assessment Strategy, and Critical Supplies Cache Inventory located in Appendix B.

In the event that MSKCC cannot be supported by the local community and/or self sustain for at least 96 hours, the Incident Commander and Command staff, in consultation with the New York State Department of Health and the New York City Office of Emergency Management, will evaluate the options and implement those that best serve the Center and community. These include but may not be limited to:

Conservation of resources,

Curtailment of select services,

Supplementing of resources from outside of the local community,

Staged evacuation, or

Total evacuation.

Departmental Planning
Each clinical department, Offsite and Regional Facility is responsible for the preparation of an Emergency Operations Plan and the training to implement the plan in the event of a drill or actual emergency.   This includes responsibility for direct notification of personnel.  In addition, management personnel will periodically review and update the action plans for their area of responsibility.

Integrated Community Planning & Mutual Aid
MSKCC is an active participant in community-wide emergency planning in conjunction with the Greater New York Hospital Association, and other public health and municipal emergency response agencies. In the event of a wide-scale emergency, MSKCC's primary role will be to protect and care for its patients and assist its mutual aid partner, New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center in their effort to establish surge capacity or evacuate.

Because MSKCC's Urgent Care Center (UCC) is not a 911-receiving hospital, it is on �permanent diversion� status by FDNY-EMS for all patient categories.  However, if a disaster prompts a request from governmental agencies, at the direction of the Incident Commander MSKCC may receive, triage, and initially treat victims of a disaster to the best of its ability to safely do so. Based on the needs of the incident MSKCC is prepared to re-direct or transfer casualties from an internal or external event to New York-Weill Cornell Medical Center, or another a tertiary care trauma center as indicated.

MSKCC is a registered participant in the NYS DOH Hospital Emergency Reporting Data System (HERDS), which allows timely sharing of critical information with community partners and public safety and health agencies.   The HICS Situation Status Unit Leader and the Director of Emergency Management are responsible for HERDS data submissions which may include, but is not limited to; bed capacity, influenza case reporting, critical supply inventory, and vaccination rates.

US Patent Numbers 7,720,998 B2, 7,836,207