Emergency Preparedness

The MGH Center for Disaster Medicine (MGH CDM) oversees all preparedness and emergency management efforts across all MGH locations to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters and other major incidents.

The MGH CDM maintains at the core of its work preparing the hospital for any disaster it may face, either internally or as part of the greater Boston community.

Definition of a Disaster

A disaster is defined as an emergency or other event that overwhelms normal hospital operations and/or resources and alters the way the MGH normally functions.

Examples of potential disasters include severe weather events, fires, mass casualty incidents, and information systems downtimes.

The overarching mission of the MGH CDM is to improve health system emergency preparedness, response and recovery through comprehensive programs that successfully help organizations anticipate, plan and train for, practice and respond to, and recover and learn from disaster events. This involves coordinating personnel and resources to respond to an event that could potentially impact patient care and hospital facilities, as well as meeting the needs of disaster patients while continuing to serve the needs and ensure the safety of existing patients, visitors and staff.

MGH CDM Priority

The MGH CDM’s priority is to manage prevention, protection, mitigation, response and recovery efforts for MGH itself and, through this process, to identify best practices and share them with other partners and institutions.

For the hospital and our community, the MGH CDM works to continually improve and enhance the hospital’s readiness for disasters and emergency situations of all types through effective training and exercise efforts, critical review of internal and external events, and the ongoing development of innovative new research and response programs. Members of the MGH CDM work closely with local, state, and federal planning and response agencies, and collaborate on associated committees as part of their extensive involvement in community planning.

All MGH employees are an essential part of our emergency response, and every staff member plays a critical role in ensuring continued hospital operations in an emergency.

Ask your supervisor about your department’s plan and what actions may be expected of you in an emergency.

Emergency Operations Planning

Planning, the cornerstone of our overall program, makes it possible for MGH CDM to manage the entire life cycle of a potential crisis at both a strategic and operational level. Planning efforts establish response priorities, identify expected levels of performance and capability requirements, provide the standard for assessing capabilities, and help stakeholders learn their roles.

The planning elements identify key aspects of the hospital’s Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) that are included to ensure contingencies are in place for continued functioning during a large-scale disaster.

The MGH Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) is a written document that outlines the institution’s strategy for managing any incident.

The plan does the following:

• Identifies “Facility Alert – Code Disaster” as the phrase to activate emergency operations
• Assigns responsibilities to departments, organizations and individuals for carrying out specific actions during an emergency
• Details the methods and procedures to be used by emergency management personnel to assess emergencies and take appropriate actions to save lives and reduce injuries, prevent or minimize damage to property, and protect the environment
• Provides a process by which hospital personnel can efficiently and effectively prevent, mitigate, prepare for, respond to and recover from emergencies and disasters
• Identifies lines of authority and coordination for the management of an emergency or disaster

Best Practices

The following offer simple steps all employees can take to maintain preparedness.

Being Prepared at Home

• Build a kit with essential supplies to support you, your family and your pets for 72 hours.

• Make a plan with your family or loved ones to decide how you will get to a safe place, how you will communicate, and how you will get back together if there is a disaster. Creating a family emergency communication plan is important. Don’t wait.

Being Prepared at Work

• Be familiar with your department’s disaster plan.
  • Know where and when to report if there is an emergency.
  • Know what the first actions expected of you are likely to be, and ask your supervisor if you do not know.

• Have access to your ID badge at all times, both in and out of the hospital. During a disaster, you will need your ID badge to get through traffic checkpoints and to enter the hospital.

• Make a plan to get to the hospital in ways different from your normal travel route and systems. Plan for finding an alternate means of transportation if the roads are blocked or if the T is not running.

Staying Informed

• Keep in mind that during a disaster, MGH Emergency Preparedness will:
  • Send an email to employee email accounts
  • Post information on Apollo
    • You do not need to be at work to access this website.
    • Look for a red banner posted during disaster to direct you to critical information.
  • Record a message on the MGH Severe Weather and Emergency Situation line: (866) 798-8402

• Enroll in the Mass General Brigham Employee Alert System and download the Everbridge app on your Android or Apple phone to receive important notices from MGH by text, email or phone:
  • From your work desktop, go to “Partners Applications > Utilities > Partners Employee Alert System” to log into the member portal.
  • Customize your notification preferences, verify your contact information, and choose which Mass General Brigham institutions you receive alerts from.
  • Open an IS Service Now (helpdesk) ticket if you need technical assistance using the Employee Alert System.

• Use the Partners Phone Directory to add your cell phone to receive alerts and instructions on what to do during a disaster:
  • Click “Go to my profile.” At the bottom of the page, click “Edit this entry.”
  • Click “Edit” next to any phone number you wish to update.
  • Click “Add” to include an additional number to receive alert messages by text or phone.
  • Check “Confidential” if you do not want the number to display in your public PPD profile. It will only be visible to you, the telecom operators, and the designated editor in your department.

• Download the FEMA app to get National Weather Service alerts, tips on what to do in various disaster situations, a customizable emergency checklist and more.