Supporting Hospital Staff Utilizing ESAR-VHP Assets:A Plan under Development

What’s the Problem?

• During a mass casualty event hospitals may require additional resources to properly attend to patients.

• Volunteers may be called upon to assist emergency staff in meeting the needs of these patients locally, statewide or even nationally.

• In the past, hospitals have found it difficult to use volunteers efficiently because of the requirement to verify a volunteer health professional’s credentials prior to accepting their assistance.

What’s the Solution?

• The Emergency System for Advance Registration of Volunteer Health Professionals

History of ESAR-VHP

• Mandated by Public Law 107-188 and funded by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

• All states were ordered to develop and operate an ESAR-VHP system that:– Registers health volunteers– Verifies the identity, credentials, and

qualifications of volunteers in an emergency

ESAR-VHP Systems

• States can tailor the system to meet their specific needs but the system must be compatible with those of other states to ensure a reliable nationwide system of mutual aid.

Goals of ESAR-VHP

• Ensure an adequate & competent volunteer force

• Enable efficient & effective emergency operations

• Allow sharing of volunteers across state lines

• Establish clear protections for volunteers,

hospitals and others

https://www.scserv.gov

The tool used by DHEC Emergency Preparedness Personnel to verify credentials in advance to meet

the needs of our citizens during emergencies

Caveats

• Registration does not obligate a volunteer to serve. • You do not have to be a health professional to

volunteer. • If an event requiring volunteer assistance occurs,

appropriate public health officials will use SCSERV to generate a list of potential volunteers, based on skills and skill levels, and other information provided during registration in SCSERV.

• Those listed will be contacted and given information regarding the event, including where to report, and will be given the opportunity to accept or decline service as a volunteer.

Medical Reserve Corps

• Founded in 2002 by President Bush• Is a partner program of Citizen Corps, a

national network of volunteers dedicated to ensuring hometown security

• MRC units are community-based and function as a way to organize and utilize volunteers

• Volunteers supplement existing local emergency and public health resources

MRC Volunteers

• May include:– medical and public health professionals

such as physicians, nurses, pharmacists, dentists, veterinarians, and epidemiologists

– others such as interpreters, chaplains, ham radio operators, office workers and legal advisors

MRC Units

• Train and participate in exercises to increase skills and maintain readiness

• May be asked to assist in public health emergencies and in non-emergency public health initiatives such as:– Flu clinics– Health fairs– Health education opportunities– Community emergency preparedness activities

MRC Units in South Carolina

So What’s the Problem?

• The focus on all these volunteer efforts has been on public health.

• The SCSERV database was developed to recruit and register volunteers for public health, not hospitals.

• We weren’t even certain what hospitals needed and what were the barriers to getting there!

…and the Solution?????

• The Acute Care Hospital Emergency Surge Project

Focus of ACHES ProjectI. Goal

Expand SC ESAR-VHP to facilitate SC acute care hospitals’ ability to utilize ESAR-VHP/MRC volunteers to increase hospital surge capacity

II. ObjectivesIdentify and address surge capacity needs of:1) acute care hospitals2) individual volunteers3) the ESAR-VHP database system

III. OutcomeRegistered volunteers verified, credentialed, and prepared to augment individual hospital surge capacity

What We Have Accomplished

Year 1 (09/01/2010 – 06/30/2011)

1. Convene a representative group from acute care hospitals to identify hospitals’ issues and needs

2. By May 1, 2011, establish working groups to address issues, develop protocols/procedures, and to meet training needs

What We Need to Accomplish

Year 2 (07/01/2011 – 06/30/2012)

1. By 09/01/2011, establish Advisory Committee to provide direction and focus to workgroups

2. By 12/01/11: develop:– a training needs assessment – a training plan based on the needs

assessment

ACHES into the Final Year

Year 3 (07/01/2012 – 06/30/2013)

1. Provide surge capacity to acute care hospitals during exercises and real emergencies

2. Incorporate acute care hospital surge needs into the design of SCSERV

Barriers to Hospitals Using Volunteers

• Even if credentialing occurs through SCSERV, privileging must be done by the hospital.

• Volunteers called out and used by SCDHEC are provided with professional liability protection; this is not the case for those providing surge capacity to hospitals.

• Volunteers called out and used by SCDHEC are not covered by Workers’ Compensation. What about those assisting hospitals?

Barriers to Hospitals Using Volunteers

• Vaccinations and other health requirements and documentation vary hospital to hospital and from those required through SCSERV.

• The disciplines and skills sets needed to assist hospitals are different from those needed by public health.

• The SC Medical Association is recruiting physicians to assist with emergencies--how can this information be shared with SCSERV?

Three Workgroups in Year 2 to Tackle Barriers

• The Training Workgroup will assess training needs, develop the training plan for hospital volunteers, and help plan the annual conference.

• The Professional Liability & Workers’ Comp for Hospital Volunteers Workgroup will develop guidance for hospitals to adapt/adopt to address liability and injury protections for volunteers serving during emergencies.

• The ACHES Credentialing through SCSERV Workgroup will determine information needing to be collected in SCSERV in order for volunteers to be rapidly called up and incorporated into a hospital response during emergencies.

Open Enrollment for Workgroups

• If you would like to help with any of the three workgroups, please contact

Jane Richter at jane.richter@sc.edu or (803)606-1391.

• Initial workgroup meetings are scheduled to begin this month and will be held at the USC Center for Public Health Preparedness in downtown Columbia.

• Mileage will be reimbursed and lunch is provided. Please volunteer to help with these important

tasks!

Thank you!