The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations standard EC.1.4 requires the emergency management plan to identify backup internal and external communication systems in the event of failure during emergencies.
Planning for backup communications requires a process, the key to which is the initial definition of need, and the assessment of how systems could fail. All of the communications planning in the world will be for naught if it does not meet the needs of the specific disaster situation. Good planning means making a best effort at understanding what potential problems could be, and designing plans and systems to address those problems. This planning model can be used at any level of response needed.
The Emergency Communications Planning Process.
INTERNAL
Internal and short term communications could be provided to a healthcare facility using existing resources, such as maintenance or other similar radio systems. If a communications emergency extends beyond a few hours, it may be necessary to bring in other, volunteer, resources to either supplement or replace hospital staff in their communications duties.
EXTERNAL
Coordination with other healthcare facilities requires a reliable method, which may not be possible with existing resources.
In both these situations, amateur radio has often been called upon in other jurisdictions to mitigate the need. Specifically, the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) is organized to provide this service, using FCC licensed, trained volunteers who bring their own radio equipment. The time required for such a response can very considerably, depending upon the day of the week, time of day, and the total number of people needed, and for how long. Experience has shown that the response time can be reduced by having some equipment pre-installed at key places within the facility. This then only requires operators come to the facility to begin.
For intra-hospital communications, it is recommended that both voice and data capabilities are included, with dedicated, roof top mounted, antennas for each. Data adds high speed, accurate, and reasonably secure transmission of sensitive information. The hardware and costs for such a proposal are below.
Icom IC-2720H FM Transceiver $380 each 2 required $760.00
Astron RS35A 25A Power Supply $150 each 2 required 300.00
Kantronics KPC-3+ Data Interface $190 each 1 required 190.00
Comet GP-6 dual-band antenna $150 each 2 required 300.00
Belden 9913 coaxial cable $240 per 500 feet 240.00
Miscellaneous connectors estimated 50.00
TOTAL $1,840.00
Additionally, a Windows desktop or laptop computer, serial cable, and printer, would be provided by the facility for the data system.
For additional information:
http://lonestar.texas.net/%7En9yfk/tcares/Pages/arches.htm