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Pandemic Influenza Plan - Questar III

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Section 3: Healthcare <strong>Plan</strong>ning and Emergency Response<br />

a method to efficiently collect and aggregate data from hospitals and in the near<br />

future other healthcare facilities. HERDS serves four principle functions:<br />

• collection of information necessary for effective resource planning;<br />

• surveillance of specific disease conditions or detection of patterns of illness<br />

via hospital and ED admissions;<br />

• monitoring the resource needs and availabilities of healthcare facilities during<br />

a public health emergency; and<br />

• tracking of patients involved in a mass casualty event.<br />

For the past several years, data has been collected through various HERDS survey<br />

instruments that have allowed the NYSDOH to better monitor hospital utilization<br />

rates and to profile the critical assets of hospitals statewide. This information has<br />

greatly assisted NYSDOH and LHDs in both their routine and emergency<br />

preparedness planning activities.<br />

2. Tracking Resources in an Emergency<br />

During an emergency event, the HERDS is a critical component of New York<br />

State’s emergency response system. It promotes efficient collection of<br />

standardized information. When HERDS is activated during an emergency event,<br />

hospitals are required to complete a survey that lists specific resources and asks<br />

the hospital to indicate whether it needs these resources or can provide them.<br />

Before indicating the need for a resource, the hospital must first make an effort to<br />

acquire it through its normal channels which include its vendors and network<br />

partners.<br />

HERDS can provide a snapshot view of critical data, needs and surpluses across a<br />

locality, a region or the state during an event or a longitudinal view of data across<br />

designated reporting periods through specially designed reports. HERDS<br />

provides a mechanism to ensure that hospital resource needs are formally<br />

registered with the health desk of the Office of Emergency Management. This<br />

information can then be reviewed, analyzed and evaluated by the NYSDOH, local<br />

health departments (LHDs) and/or a Multi-agency Coordinating Committee<br />

(MACC) which in turn makes recommendations on necessary actions through the<br />

Incident Command System at the state or local Office of Emergency Management<br />

(OEM).<br />

Various incident specific data collection templates have been developed. These<br />

templates are designed to collect concise and accurate information on the<br />

hospital’s staffing and materiel needs and what surpluses are available for<br />

deployment. The templates may be modified by NYSDOH as necessary during or<br />

between events, and new templates may be developed as needed. During a<br />

pandemic, information that would be collected might include:<br />

• Staffing relative to number of patients<br />

• Number of available intensive care unit beds (adult and pediatric)<br />

• Number of available medical beds (adult and pediatric)<br />

• Number of available emergency department (ED) beds<br />

February 7, 2006 3-13

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