Healthcare Mass Fatality Management Tabletop Exercise <<Organization Name>> <<Date>>

1
Healthcare Mass Fatality Management Tabletop
Exercise ltltOrganization NamegtgtltltDategtgt
2
Exercise Agenda

• Introduction overview
• Scenario and messaging with player response to
  follow
• Break
• Debrief

3
What is a Tabletop Exercise?

• Informal discussion using a scripted disaster
  scenario as a catalyst
• No time pressures, designed to promote free and
  open exchange of ideas
• Familiarizes players with roles,
  responsibilities, functions, plans, and
  procedures
• Identifies issues requiring further work

4
Exercise Play

• Introductory narrative, followed by problem
  statements and subsequent updates
• Put yourself in the position described in the
  scenario
• When asked, describe your actions as if this were
  real, following organizational plans and
  procedures
• There are no right or wrong answers
• Identification of issues, but not necessarily
  trying to solve them

5
Procedural Notes

• Parking Lot as you come up with things that need
  further action as an organization, write them on
  a Post-It sticky note, hand to the facilitator
  and he/she will place it in the parking lot.
• Your Specific Department make notes of things
  you want to follow up on later with your
  department leadership and/or colleagues.

6
Exercise Objectives

1. Identify organizational planning gaps relating to
   mass fatality response
2. Determine ltltorganization namegtgt ability to assess
   and report fatalities
3. Determine ltltorganization namegtgt ability to track,
   move, and store remains and personal effects
4. Determine ltltorganization namegtgt ability to
   respond to family/friend inquiries following a
   mass fatality event
5. Identify internal training needs to respond to
   multiple fatalities

7
Assumptions

• An increase in demand for ltltorganization
  servicesgtgt services is predicted during an
  emergency.
• Some key decision makers are inaccessible.
• Our community, including law enforcement, medical
  services, schools, stores, food banks, shelters,
  vendors, etc., will be impacted in the same ways
  ltltorganization namegtgt is impacted.

8
Scenario

• It is a hot summer day in King County, WA. The
  weather forecast is mostly sunny skies with a
  high of mid 80s and an overnight low of high 60s
• It is currently 530pm. 24 hours ago a magnitude
  6.7 earthquake shook the Puget Sound Region
  affecting King, Pierce and Snohomish Counties

9
Situation Update 1.

• SR 520, I-90, I-5 and I-405 are heavily damaged
  and both the I-90 and SR 520 bridges are
  impassable. The Alaskan Way Viaduct has
  collapsed.
• Electricity is disrupted with only intermittent
  service throughout the county.
• There are reports of numerous fatalities as well
  as injuries throughout the region.
• Most of the hospitals in the region are
  operational, information gathering from other
  healthcare sectors is ongoing.
• Health and Medical Area Command (HMAC) is
  activated and is supporting the King County
  Medical Examiner with response operations.

10
Situation 1 Questions

• How will ltltorganization namegtgt determine the
  number of fatalities that have occurred within
  your facility as a result of the earthquake?
• How will ltltorganization namegtgt gather information
  about deceased staff members?
• How will ltltorganization namegtgt organize the
  information to facilitate reporting to the King
  County Medical Examiner?
• Has ltltorganization namegtgt developed protocols
  for documenting non-patient deaths that occur at
  your facility?
• What types of documents will ltltorganization
  namegtgt use to identify and track remains to
  report to the Medical Examiner?
• How will ltltorganization namegtgt incorporate the
  tracking forms provided in the Fatality
  Management Plan template?

11
Situation Update 2

• It is 3 days later
• In King County, there are 1600 reported
  fatalities
• The King County Medical Examiner will be delayed
  in their response to reported deaths, operations
  at funeral homes have also been delayed
• Organizations and facilities are advised that it
  may be several days before bodies may be picked
  up
• ltltInsert number of fatalities
• based on organization type
• from Plan of Instructiongtgt

12
Situation 2 Questions

• How will ltltorganizationgtgt surge to accommodate
  the deceased?
• What space will ltltorganization namegtgt use to
  store the remains?
• Have ltltorganization namegtgt developed protocols to
  address the following considerations with
  storage?
• Security
• Accessibility
• Temperature Management
• Appropriate Placement
• Privacy
• Ventilation
• Pest Control

13
Situation 2 Questions Cont.

• What supplies, equipment and resources will
  ltltorganization namegtgt require to store the
  remains for several days?
• How will ltltorganization namegtgt coordinate the
  tracking, movement and storage of remains?
• Who will complete the forms related to each
  decedent and ensure proper tracking of the
  remains?
• How will ltltorganization namegtgt track the personal
  effects of decedents?
• How will ltltorganization namegtgt manage security
  issues?
• Security of human remains?
• Security of personal effects?

14
Situation 2 Questions Cont.

• What infection control planning, if any, needs to
  be addressed?
• How will ltltorganization namegtgt provide staff to
  fill the following job functions?
• Morgue Lead
• Personal Affects Management
• Morgue Security
• Storage Facility Maintenance
• Family Liaison
• How will ltltorganization namegtgt provide training
  or just-in-time training to staff to be able to
  fill these roles?
• How will ltltorganization namegtgt assess and support
  the mental health needs of staff involved in
  managing a mass fatality incident?

15
Situation Update 3

• Family/friends are looking for their loved ones
  in any way possible
• Community members have begun to find their family
  members/friends deceased and are bringing them to
  your facility/organization.

16
Situation 3 Questions

• How will ltltorganization namegtgt handle
  family/friends that show up at the facility or
  inquire about their family members?
• How will ltltorganization namegtgt decide what
  information, if any, you will provide about their
  deceased family member?
• How will ltltorganization namegtgt handle inquiries
  from families about deceased staff members?
• How will ltltorganization namegtgt respond to
  inquiries from the media regarding fatalities?
• What will ltltorganization namegtgt do if community
  members bring their deceased family/friends to
  the facility?

17
Addition Planning

• In a non-earthquake scenario there may be other
  planning areas to consider
• What is ltltorganization namegtgt protocol for
  continuity of death certification?
• Has ltltorganization namegtgt developed a strategy
  for managing a surge of natural death
  certifications?

18

• Congratulations!
• You have successfully participated in a mass
  fatality exercise

19

• Debrief

20
Debrief

1. What were some significant issues that came out
   of exercise?
2. What issues came up that you did not expect?
3. What questions/issues came up that youll want to
   discuss with your employees?
4. What are things you want to follow up on within
   your department? Revisit post-it notes/parking
   lot issues.
5. What follow up would you like for the agency to
   do?