DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
MEDICAL CENTER
(LOCATION)
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PROGRAM (DATE)
STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE NO. ( )
SUBJECT: Explosion
1. Description of the Threat/Event. Explosions in a VA Medical Center (VAMC) will tax emergency response to its fullest capability. Whether the event is a local failure such as a boiler or the result of another emergency such as a terrorist event, any explosion in the Medical Center may result in large numbers of casualties and property damage. As with fires, proper and quick response to this event will lessen the impact and may possibly save lives.
2. Impact on Mission Critical Systems. Although an explosion at the Medical Center is a rare event, the impact to patients, visitors, employees as well as the infrastructure can be high. It is most important that VAMCs keep peripheral SOPs current. For example, SOPs governing critical engineering systems, evacuation, transportation, and alternative care sites must be kept current in order to properly respond to this event.
3. Operating Units and Key Personnel with Responsibility to Manage this Threat/Event.
· Medical Center Director
· Safety and Security
· Health and Medical
· Equipment, Plant and Utilities
4. Mitigation/Preparedness Activities of the Threat/Event.
a. Hazard Reduction, Preparedness Strategies and Resource Issues.
· Conducting proper preventive maintenance and inspections on critical systems that may directly or indirectly cause explosions. Examples include boilers, oxygen systems, compressed gas systems.
· Inspect storage areas that may indirectly cause explosions such as flammable liquids storage, chemical storage (incompatibles), and storage of materials around heating devices.
· Install and properly maintain fire protection, detection, and alarm systems.
· Oversee and document all vendor-performed work.
· Conduct training and evaluation of drills/exercises.
5. Response/Recovery from the Event/Threat.
a. Hazard Control Strategies and Resource Issues. This includes an assessment of those areas which are particularly vulnerable to an actual threat/event. For example, if the oxygen system were lost due to its involvement at or near the explosion, this would affect all critical patient care areas.
b. Hazard Monitoring Strategies. The VAMC will need to develop procedures to monitor the impact of the threat/event on mission-critical functions. For example, in the case of an explosion, monitoring damage/fire spread, casualty information, system(s) performance, and staff availability, is critical to ensuring proper response.
c. Recovery Strategies. Assess critical systems performance continuously and initiate repair or replacement, as soon as feasible.
d. See Attached Charts: Key Activity Management Tool/Structure.
6. External Notification Procedures.
a. Within VA. VISN Directors
b. Other Federal Facilities.
· OSHA – Notify within eight (8) hours of one (1) employee fatality, or three (3) employee hospitalizations resulting from a single incident.
· EPA
c. Other. JCAHO
d. Community Entities. Because of the VAMC’s relationship to the community, it is likely that there are specific entities within the community that should be notified that a threat/event has occurred. In many cases, this notification will trigger a community response to the threat/event, e.g. local Fire Department.
7. Specialized Staff Training.
· Training on emergency patient transfer techniques.
· Training on vertical evacuation training.
· Training on evacuation training for operating units, ICUs, and ERs.
· Conduct training on patient life support systems.
8. References and Further Assistance.
a. VHA Emergency Management Guidebook.
b. All Operating Units in the medical center should review their operating unit templates for response/recovery activities.
c. See SOP for Evacuation (Total).
9. Review Date.
(NAME)
Chief, (SERVICE NAME)
Attachments: