Dale L. Thompson, Threat Assessment Manager, Kaiser Permanente
Abstract
Kaiser Permanente, the USA’s largest not-for-profit integrated healthcare provider, has developed a hybrid emergency preparedness and response system. It consists of a tiered structure of national ‘workgroups’ and traditional physical command centre operations. The workgroups provide integration and coordination across a large organisation while allowing for necessary regional operational flexibility. Workgroup membership taps the best available expertise in a functional area, drawn from all levels and all regions, so as to best represent all interests of a divergent, widespread organisation. Workgroups exist in ‘standby’ until a threat emerges, then are activated as needed, excepting the core clinical workgroup which meets at least monthly to track potential risks to the organisation. These workgroups promote internal consistency, represent the organisation to outside entities, and develop tools, templates and protocols that regions can adapt, adopt and implement through a traditional, operational system of regional and medical centre and clinical emergency command centres. Developed in response to the anthrax terrorism in the early 1990s, this hybrid system allowed for a rapidly escalated, yet measured response to the recent H1N1 outbreak and could be a template for application in other organisations with similar needs.
Keywords
healthcare, emergency preparedness, emergency response, command centre, H1N1
Dale Thompson is the programme Threat Assessment Manager for Kaiser Permanente, responsible for oversight of emergency management plans, programmes, training and response across a system of 35 hospitals and 454 clinics, with 164,000 staff and over 15,000 physicians. Prior to this role, Dale was the Environmental Health & Safety Director for Kaiser Permanente in San Diego. Responsibilities included writing emergency management plans and annual risk assessments, and planning, conducting and evaluating drills. His previous experience included loss control in workers’ compensation, environmental consulting, and over 20 years in the US Coast Guard in marine science, disaster planning and polar operations in the Arctic and Antarctic. Dale is a Certified Safety Professional and Associate in Risk Management with an MS in oceanography and a BS in marine science, and professional certificates in hazardous material management and occupational health and safety. He has also served in the Insurance Education Association faculty, teaching the ‘ARM 56, Risk Financing’, risk management course.
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