- Emergency Plan
An emergency plan (also called an emergency management plan) is the written documentation of the emergency arrangements for a building, structure or facility. It records the agreed roles, responsibilities, strategies, systems and procedures for preventing, preparing for and responding to an emergency.
The requirements for emergency plans are set out in Australian Standard AS 3745 for facilities generally, and AS 4083 for health care facilities.
Elements of an emergency plan
Under AS 3745, the emergency plan is prepared by the emergency planning committee (EPC) with input from stakeholders such as building owners, facility managers and occupants. It documents the arrangements for the emergency control organisation (ECO). AS 3745 addresses the human and life-safety aspects of emergencies.
Elements of an emergency plan under AS 3745
- Roles and responsibilities: the agreed roles of the ECO and occupants before, during and after an emergency, and the structure and purpose of the EPC.
- Emergency identification: an analysis of the emergencies that could affect people in the facility, whether they arise inside it, outside it, or within it and affect neighbouring facilities.
- Prevention: measures that reduce the likelihood of an emergency occurring.
- Preparedness: activities such as training, emergency response exercises and maintenance.
- Mitigation: measures that reduce the impact of an emergency on people, the facility and the environment.
- Response: emergency response procedures covering overall control and coordination, including evacuation strategies for occupants with a disability.
- Evacuation diagrams: diagrams displayed throughout the facility that reflect the emergency and evacuation information in the plan.
- Personal emergency evacuation plans: a PEEP developed with each occupant who has a disability and may need assistance, shared with everyone responsible for carrying it out, and covered in occupant training.
- Distribution: enough of the plan provided to ECO members and occupants for them to act in an emergency, with a record of where PEEPs are held.
- Coordination with others: consistency with the plans of neighbouring facilities, emergency services and other agencies, and with the facility's security procedures.
- Review and servicing: the plan has a validity period set by the EPC and is reviewed at the end of that period, after an emergency or exercise, or when changes affect it. Its elements are inspected, tested and routinely serviced.
AS 4083 describes an emergency plan as a documented scheme setting out who is responsible for what, and the actions and procedures to follow when an emergency occurs. Every health care facility must have an emergency plan and an emergency planning committee (EPC).
The plan must account for the facility's physical layout, organisational structure, staffing and communication systems, for both internal and external emergencies, and should be developed with the relevant emergency services. Instead of an Emergency Control Organisation (ECO), AS 4083 assigns emergency roles to an emergency coordinator and emergency officers.
Elements of an emergency plan under AS 4083
- Roles and responsibilities: a chain of command with documented duties for key personnel, and clear reporting lines for staff, which may be supported by action cards.
- Authority to activate: the people authorised to initiate the plan, their deputies, how to contact them at all hours, and detailed methods for initiating the plan.
- Prevention, preparedness, response and recovery: provisions covering all four elements of emergency management.
- Supplementary plans: hazard-specific plans for events such as bushfire, flood, severe weather or hazardous substance incidents, identified through a hazard analysis of the facility.
- Patients and mobility impaired people: supplementary plans record patient dependency for each area, and the emergency needs of mobility impaired staff are assessed when they start employment or when the impairment arises.
- Emergency coordination centre: where appropriate, a staffed centre for administration, coordination and communication during an emergency, with an alternative site.
- Alerting and communication: systems that alert staff quickly without causing undue alarm to patients or visitors, dedicated emergency phone lines, and an enquiry management system.
- Information release: a policy naming who may release information during an emergency and what may be released.
- Resources and records: an inventory of personnel, facilities, equipment and supplies, and a progressive record of events, actions and decisions.
- Recovery: debriefing and referral for people affected by an emergency, administrative support for the increased workload, and replacement of used or damaged equipment.
- Security: provisions to address the security of the facility.
- External agencies: methods for activating police, ambulance, fire and State Emergency Services, with plans developed and registered with the State or Territory health department and those services.
- Review and exercise: the plan is exercised and reviewed at least every 12 months, and new, temporary and contract staff are familiarised with it on appointment.