When surveyors conduct emergency management tracers at hospitals, a simple but important step can set the right tone at the start, says a Joint Commission official.

 

When surveyors begin the session and call the appropriate staff members to the incident command center, make sure those individuals have name tags that include their job functions within the incident command system, says Jerry Gervais, an engineer with The Joint Commission’s Standards Interpretation Group.

 

For example, a badge might say, “Richard Johnson, Hazmat Team Director.” The name tags will help the surveyors know who’s participating in the tracer and what roles those people will ideally play in an emergency.

 

Gervais spoke during a Joint Commission Resources, Inc., audioconference on April 25.