Federal, state and local government officials play unique and critical roles in addressing threats to emergency power at critical healthcare facilities.
Since disaster response begins at the local level, municipal or county officials are often the first entity contacted by a critical healthcare facility, water system or waste water treatment plant when threats to emergency power unfold.
When local resources are not sufficient to address these threats, an impacted facility’s needs are escalated to the attention of state officials who must decide if state assets can most effectively support the facility in need.
Finally, when state resources cannot sufficiently address a threat to emergency power, a governor or a state’s emergency management agency can request support from FEMA’s Temporary Power program, which includes a fleet of over 1,000 generators of varying sizes strategically deployed around the U.S.
FEMA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers jointly manage this program which can quickly deploy generators of varying sizes, along with generator fuel, to impacted facilities.
The Powered for Patients NIPP Security & Resilience Challenge will help put powerful, real time information about threats to emergency power in the hands of government officials, enabling accelerated response to stricken facilities.
Advancing a Critical Discussion Around Accelerated Information Sharing When Emergency Power is Threatened
A key part of the Powered for Patients NIPP Security & Resilience Challenge is forging consensus among government officials at the local, state and federal level about how real time or near real time emergency power system status reports for critical healthcare facilities are shared up the chain of command.
Another critical question to be addressed is the type of information about threats to emergency power government officials will need to help accelerate response.
Powered for Patients project leaders will work closely with government officials at the local, state and federal level to seek input on these critical questions in order to develop a draft voluntary protocol for information sharing within and up the government chain of command.
In addition to individual discussions with government officials, Powered for Patients will facilitate a stakeholder meeting involving government, healthcare, the utility sector and private industry to enable collective discussion of a draft information sharing protocol.
If you help lead a local, state or federal emergency management or public health preparedness agency, your perspective on real time sharing of emergency power system status reports within the government chain of command is very much needed. If you are willing to share your views on this important issue, please contact Project Director Eric Cote at cote@poweredforpatients.org so he can schedule a discussion.