The importance of having a disaster recovery plan in organizations cannot be overstated. Regardless of industry, when disaster takes place, it brings the day to day operations of an organization to a halt. A weak hurricane can cause devastation throughout a state by creating storm surges which will overflow river banks and sewage systems. These impacts can affect the delicate infrastructure that hospitals rely on to keep lights on, keep patients alive and data available to users. Therefore it is important for organizations to curtail the risk of permanent data loss and ensure business continuity in the face of disaster. A disaster recovery plan is important as it provides the tool sets and describes the procedures that allow organizations to recover from unplanned disaster, service outset and restore to normal function. Bellevue hospital is one of the organizations that experienced a hurricane because it was located in low lying area.
Background of the Issue
The problem is that the Bellevue hospital is located in a low-lying area. The effect of Hurricane was severe because of its location. The issue led to the flooding of the hospital premises and the collapse of the electrical system within the premises. Nurses and other medical professional struggled to save the patient from the menace that had been caused by the storms and floods from Hurricane (Gotanda, Fogel, Husk, Levine, Peterson, Baumlin, & Habboushe, 2015). The rescue operation that lasted for almost two days made the hospital administrators seek assistance from the government and other wishers. Therefore, the evacuation was done faster because of the level of preparedness of the hospital.
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The level of readiness by the hospital administrators enhanced the operation which entailed an elaborate disaster plan. Flood mitigations and risk assessment are some of the significant issues that the paper examines. (Uppal, Evans, Chitkara, Patrawalla, Mooney, Addrizzo-Harris & Tsay, 2013). Disaster assessment and mitigations like improving and replacing the internal emergency system of the hospital as well as enhancing communication to facilitate alerts and warning system. Therefore, paper analyses the effects of the hurricane on the Bellevue hospital as well as the possible remedies to the hospital situation.
Needs of the Situation
The disaster assessment should be done to analyze the situation at Bellevue hospital and its environment. The evaluation analyses the magnitude of the disaster after which measures and mitigation should follow. Therefore, the reduction on the Bellevue hospital was the construction of the perimeter boundary and the improvement of other infrastructure, including technology to prevent future occurrence of Hurricane. A policy was formed by the environmental assessment to guide the environment facilities around the hospital; the construction of the wall should not pose any harm to the ecosystems and the surrounding community (Murakami, Siktel, Lucido, Winchester, & Harbord, 2015). The environmental assessment around the hospital improved and maintained the lives of the community because it was meant to prevent any form of malevolent effect on the environment and the surrounding community.
FEMA fund was released to enhance repair and renovation of other facilities. The fund was also to ensure that mitigations and measure are put in place to protect the future occurrence of Hurricane in the region (Gotanda et al, 2015). Also, the fund was to enhance and raise the hospital roof thus to make it at a higher level to withstand the effect of storms and floods. During the repair and innovation, the FEMA also suggested the integrations of walls, to be designed to withstand the future flooding. The funds raised by FEMA to the hospital should ensure no future disasters are experienced within the hospital because it was to manage to address any future flooding and storms (Licciardi, Bodic, Taub, Homel & Jacob, 2016). Therefore, as the policies and framework are developed to rebuild and defend Hurricane from future floods and storms, it is significant to consider the effect of climate change which sometimes is unpredictable.
Solutions
The hospital should analyze the best solutions that can be used to enhance long term future operation. Therefore, the solution that the hospital should consider is improving the internal emergency departments above the floods or instead raising a building where emergency sections will be located alongside the generators and types of equipment and facilities. Also, the replacement of the emergency generator should be considered to enhance security alerts and warnings (Uppal et al., 2013). The installation of the water pumps to the hospital elevators and the construction of the waterproofing walls will enhance protection against the flooding.
The reposition of the internal system of the hospital will ensure that the flooding does not disrupt the regular operation of the hospital. For instance, during the hurricane storm, most of the internal systems of the hospital affected, which in turn caused a significant impact on the general hospital operation (CMS.Gov, 2019). According to the FEMA (2019), all public hospital in New York should adopt the elevation of the internal system to avoid future instances of flooding. Therefore, the implementation of the policy will enhance the operation of the hospital.
Another mitigation proposed by the government department to protect the hospital from future flooding is the construction and improvement of the north and south vehicular docks to withstand heavy loads caused by future floods (Licciardi et al, 2016). Also, the construction of the new flood pumping station at the hospital premises should be considered to pump and convey sanitary as well waste remains during the flooding and events. The flood pumping station will also enable the hospital to access to clean water frequently during the flood and other effects associated with the hurricanes Therefore, the proposed mitigation enhances the safety of the patient at hospital as well as the surrounding community of the hospital.
Another solution is enhancing the communication system that can send a security warning to other departments. During storms and floods at the Bellevue hospital, power disruption and other utilities hampered communication within the entire hospital. Communication failure within different department led to a severe problem as well as losses (McGinty, Burke, Resnick, Smith, Barnet, & Rutkow, 2016). The improvement of a communication system within the premises will enhance proper communication channel in the hospital. The system will be designed to accommodate and address the further problem caused communication as it will provide effective alerts and warning during the emergency. Thus leading to the faster and effective response of all departments.
Different agencies, as well as staffs at the hospital, have embarked on intensive testing of all the protocols through the planning process to improve effective communication. The central hospital communication can access and prioritize the supplies and other resources during emergence (Murakami et. al, 2015). The federal policy states that all New York should enhance the transmission, especially security communication, which entails security alarms and warnings.
The Bellevue hospital has adopted the elevation of the internal emergency systems. The initiative was arrived at after the proposal by the FEMA agency during the disbursement of the funds. Therefore, the repair and rebuilding of the hospital were done according to the recommendations made by the Public and other agencies (Licciardi et al, 2016). Thus, the implementation of the elevation of the internal emergency system within the hospital was achieved because of funds from the FEMA agency. The reposition of the internal systems like boilers, generators, chillers, among others, has been sufficient to the hospital and its staffs. Raising the internal emergency system above the flooding level is significant progress to the hospital for the development. The installation of the internal structures will also protect the hospital storms and flooding because some structure will pump and convey wastewater away during the future flooding (McGinty et.al, 2016). Therefore, elevation improves the quality services and reduces worries as well as generated fear during flooding and another disaster.
The solution is beneficial because it averts and prevents fear among the staffs. It works well because most of the internal emergency systems have been raised beyond the flood level. The replacement of the emergency generator will enhance the security warning s ad alerts to the staffs and community around the hospital (McGinty et al, 2017). Therefore, during the occurrence of flooding, the hospital can continue with its regular operation because there will be no breakdown of the electricity system as well as other essential systems.
The idea is functional because the generator and other machines like plumbing cannot be destructed by water. The hospital will experience smooth operation in the future because of the improved and modified structures to withstand the effect of flooding. Additionally, the boilers can control the water system and direction during floorings. Adoption of the solution will also cause a multiplier effect on the community around the hospital as they will be protected from the flooding effects (New York State Department of Health, 2019) Therefore, the implementation of the solution improves the Bellevue services, including continuous operation during the disaster. Finally, the purpose of the mitigation is to modify the hospital infrastructures to withstand the future flooding and any other problems associated with a hurricane as well as making the hospital disaster preparedness.
Measurement Metrics
Finally, the success of disaster recovery plan will be measured using recovery time objective and recovery point objective. Recovery time objective is the maximum acceptable length of time between the disaster and the resumption of normal operation and services. In the case of Bellevue hospital, the expected amount of time will be two weeks. Recovery point objective will measure the extent to which the hospital was able to save its major buildings and equipment within the specified period of two weeks. This will help in determining the effectiveness of the disaster recovery plan.
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