Disaster Ready

In the event of a disaster – blizzard, tornado, chemical spill or terrorist attack – it is critical that partnering agencies work well together. Thanks to the cooperative work of the Elkhart General Hospital Emergency Preparedness Committee, the Elkhart General Hospital Education and Program Committee, and the Elkhart Fire Department, we are well prepared.

Lori Harding, MLS, AHIP, Coordinator, Library Services, Beacon Health System Libraries, applied for and received funding from the National Library of Medicine to improve disaster medicine and public health information access for our health professionals, first responders, community members and others who play a role in health-related disaster preparedness, response and recovery. In fact, Elkhart General was one of only four organizations nationwide last year to receive this funding (up to $29,660) to purchase laptops, iPads and software for the program “Preparing your Go-Bag for Disaster-related Information Needs.”

As part of the program, a disaster preparedness session was offered multiple times over the past year for physicians, nurses, pharmacists, first responders and other health care personnel. The sessions, instructed by David Van Ryn, MD, Chris McFarland and Lori, highlighted four databases containing chemical, biological and radiological exposure content.

In September, a full-scale drill involving a hazardous material spill was held at Elkhart General Hospital. This event brought together multiple agencies to assess the knowledge and use of technology, and demonstrated that authoritative disaster management information is critical to communication.

Free web access and app versions of the NLM databases are available at http://www.sis.nlm.nih.gov/dimrc/toolsnlmdimrc.html. VisualDX is available on the library webpage at http://medicallibrary.memorialsb.org/lshomepage.asp

Contact Lori at 574.523.3253 for directions on how to sign up for a Beacon sponsored VisualDX app.