As defined in Chapter 5, mitigation activities prevent the occurrence of a hazard or minimize the impact of a hazard should it occur. Mitigation establishes resiliency for the Healthcare Coalition. While this handbook acknowledges the unique construct of each Healthcare Coalition, there are common considerations across all Coalitions.
The Coalition Notification Center’s function is a critical element to successful response. This entity could be impacted in several ways:
- Facility: The facility housing the Coalition Notification Center function could be compromised by hazard impact. For example, a power outage could prevent the Coalition Notification Center from completing its responsibilities if no backup power source is available. The Coalition should evaluate this during their continuity of operations planning activities.
- Personnel: Personnel from a Coalition member organization may have other duties in addition to conducting the Coalition Notification Center function, so an emergency may severely challenge that organization’s personnel.
- Technology (equipment): Hazard impact may affect the technologies used at the facility that conducts the Coalition notification actions (e.g., radio, internet, etc.).
It is recommended that Coalitions examine resources that can provide backup capabilities for the Coalition Notification Center, even if the resource can only conduct the most essential Coalition Notification Center activities. Other mitigation considerations applicable to most Healthcare Coalitions include:
- Response team personnel: Individuals rostered to serve on the HCRT may have difficulty being reached or responding, especially during the early stages of an incident. Having backup personnel taking secondary call may address this issue.
- Communication technologies: Given the distributed nature in which the HCRT may operate, communications technology is important. Redundancy in communication methods is vital to maintain operations if the primary technology fails.
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