DOH-7 Exec Says Hospitals, Health Units Need Emergency Plans

(PNA) — Hospitals and rural health units (RHUs) are required to have individual Health Emergency Preparedness, Response and Recovery Plan (HEPRRP), a Department of Health (DOH) 7 official said.

Dr. Expedito Medalla, chief of the DOH 7 Health Emergency Management Staff, said the plan is aimed at ensuring that healthcare providers maintain presence of mind in responding to health emergencies.

This plan is required by DOH-7 in the renewal of hospital license, Medalla said.

He said the HEPRRP should be duly approved by the chief of hospital and properly disseminated to hospital employees.

“They should be able to formulate a functioning system. We should be able to anticipate and prevent chaos and panic. These hospitals should be ready for mass casualty,” Medalla said.

A training to guide public health facilities in formulating and updating their plan will be done this year involving district and provincial hospitals in the region.

“All RHUs will undergo training as well. These municipal/city health workers will be required to submit their own plan which will comprise the provincial plan. The provincial plan will be consolidated for the regional plan,” the HEMS chief said.

For RHU training, only Cebu province has yet to conduct their training as HEMS 7 has already finished facilitating the workshop for Bohol, Siquijor, and Negros Oriental.

Medalla said Central Visayas has a compliance rate of 80 percent in HERRP.

HERRP is designed to identify steps on how to address systematically mass casualty situations like natural calamities such as typhoons and earthquakes and accidents and fires. (PNA)CTB/EB