HVA events will let surveyors test your flexibility

We all know that The Joint Commission expects your disaster drills to feature escalating scenarios that tax the ability of staff members to respond.

This mandate falls under EM.03.01.03, element of performance 3. But how do surveyors check this provision?

For starters, surveyors should review past drill and actual emergency event critiques to see whether any of those situations pushed the envelope in terms of response and what lessons hospitals learned, says Joseph Cappiello, BSN, MA, chair of Cappiello & Associates in Elmhurst, IL.

But a more likely way for surveyors to gauge your facility’s ability to respond during escalating scenarios is to initiate tabletop exercises, says Cappiello.