Open Projects
Information about the NVHA
Open Projects
- Adult Crisis Critical Care & Trauma Capacity (C4T)Initiative
- Regional Patient Tracking Project
- Regional Hospital Coordinating Center (RHCC)
- Stockpile Management Initiative
Adult Crisis Critical Care & Trauma Capacity (C4T) Initiative
A major terrorist attack or unintended accident involving Chemical, Radiological, Nuclear or Explosive instruments could produce thousands of patients with critical injuries. The likelihood of survival for these critically injured patients is dependent on the ability for NCR hospitals to rapidly expand their critical care services and capabilities to meet the surge in demand for these services. Significant resources and efforts have been made to develop a regional trauma system designed to lessen death and disability by getting these critically injured patients to the appropriate level of care without delay. In most s this means transport to a Level I or II trauma center.
During a mass casualty or terrorist event however, all hospitals, not just trauma centers, must be prepared to receive, stabilize and care for the critically ill or injured
The Adult Crisis Critical Care & Trauma Capacity (C4T) project is aimed at establishing this baseline level of crisis trauma and critical care capabilities at the NVHA member hospitals through a collaborative, region-wide effort across jurisdictional / disciplinary boundaries. The 4 core components of this initiative are:
- Acquisition and management of the specialized equipment, supplies and pharmaceuticals required to establish and sustain critical care surge capacity;
- Development and/or improvement to regional and hospital plans, polices and procedures and Mutual Aid Agreements required to effectively deploy critical care surge capabilities in a coordinated manner based on the strategic recommendations and findings of the Health and Medical Capabilities Gap Analysis;
- Training of hospital clinicians in the medical management of critical injuries resulting from Chemical, Radiological, Nuclear or Explosive instruments.
- Development of a pilot framework and guiding principles for the allocation of scarce medical resources, and explore the impact this would have on established standards of care.
- Development of a "hub and spoke" model for patient care oversight and management based including the integration of telehealth and telepresence capabilities as provided by the Inova Health System eICU program.
Questions: Zachary.corrigan@novaha.org
Regional Patient Tracking Project
The ability to track the location and condition of patients the continuum of care will be critical for maintaining regional situational awareness and reuniting family and loved ones with patients during times of crisis.
The NVHA, led by Potomac Hospital, is currently piloting an initiative, in partnership with the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association (VHHA), Fairfax County Fire Department and Arlington County Fire Department, to implement an integrated field to hospital tracking system. The system will utilize a combination of mobile and web-based applications. Most importantly the system will be integrated to existing hospital Admission, Discharge and Transfer (ADT) applications – allowing hospitals to register patients in their normal data systems while simultaneously feeding information to the statewide patient tracking system. When fully implemented the system will allow authorized agents of Hospitals, the Regional Hospital Coordinating Center (RHCC), EMS, and Family Assistance Centers to (1) track the status and disposition of patients; (2) improve situational awareness; and (3) reunify victims with family / loved ones.
Questions: Zachary.corrigan@novaha.org
Regional Hospital Coordinating Center (RHCC)
The NoVA RHCC is a multi-agency coordination center responsible for all operational components required to implement the NVHA Mutual Aid System and NoVA Regional Hospital Emergency Operations Plan (RHEOP). There are 6 RHCCs in the Commonwealth of Virginia, representing all 93 acute-care hospitals in Virginia. The RHCC has jurisdictional authority as defined by the NVHA hospitals in the Northern Virginia Hospital Alliance Memorandum of Understanding (NVHA-MOU) and by the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) as outlined in the Virginia Department of Health Emergency Operations Plan (VDH EOP), under requirements of the Commonwealth of Virginia Emergency Services and Disaster Law of 2000.
The mission of the RHCC is to ensure patients are delivered to the healthcare facility most capable of providing definitive patient care, in the shortest and most efficient time possible, through coordination and collaboration with regional partners.
The primary responsibilities of the RHCC include:
- Providing a single point of contact between NoVA hospitals and the VDH Emergency Communications Center (VDH-ECC).
- Notifying NoVA and other NCR hospitals that an event has occurred.
- Collecting and disseminating information about the disaster, including updates, warnings, recommended actions, and the overall status of area hospitals and public safety partners; establishing and managing the Medcomm radio system for the duration of the incident.
- During a disaster, acting as a single point of contact and collaboration for NoVA Fire and EMS departments for the purposes of hospital diversion management, movement of patients from an incident scene to receiving hospitals, and input/guidance with respect to hospital capabilities, available services, and medical transport decisions.
- Coordinating the movement/transfer of patients between NVHA hospitals.
- Coordinating private EMS resources being activated to assist NVHA hospitals.
- Implementing the NVHA MOU to support NVHA hospitals for:
- Personnel
- Medical Equipment
- Medical Supplies
- Pharmaceuticals
- Providing secondary support (second to local emergency operations centers [EOCs]) to NVHA hospitals for:
- Fuel
- Food
- Water
- Others as necessary
- When necessary, coordinating/convening clinical and public health experts to determine regional medical treatment, infection control, and standards of care protocols.
Stockpile Management Initiative
An integral part of our goal to maintain a comprehensive hospital emergency preparedness program is maintenance of our Pharmaceutical Emergency Stockpiles, located in each of our member hospitals. In the event of a disaster, our Emergency Stockpiles are designed to provide the necessary support to continue to treat our patients through a surge in patient numbers that has depleted regular pharmacy supplies until further supplies can be delivered. Our stockpiles also provide the assets needed to provide antibiotic prophylaxis for staff and their family.
Our goal is to maintain high standards of patient care and staff and family protection through careful and prudent stewardship of our pharmaceutical resources. The primary objectives of our pharmaceutical stockpile management plan include:
- Rotating medication through our regular pharmacy inventory to prevent expiration and waste of our medications.
- Returning for credit any pharmaceuticals that cannot be rotated because of quantity or infrequency of use or a recall from the manufacturer.
- Reinvesting that return credit into necessary and compatible new product.
- Revising our Stockpile Recommendations to keep current with changing best practices.
- Standardization of hospital inventories to better facilitate rotation, mutual aid and overall management.
