Role in the Community
In 2003, Jamaica Hospital Medical Center was designated as the lead hospital of a partnership of four New York City Centers for Bioterrorism Preparedness Planning. This designation uniquely positioned the hospital to enhance its current capabilities and pioneer innovative models on how health care facilities should respond to mass casualty incidents or Nuclear, Biological, Chemical or Radiological events not only in NYC but perhaps for the entire country. Notable aspects of the CBPP program included:
Decontamination – The CBPP is tasked with enhancing decontamination capabilities by increasing the health system’s capacity to receive not only large quantities of contaminated people but those belonging to a special needs population including the elderly, mentally challenged and children.
Surge Capacity – The CBPP ensures the development of plans to increase the health system’s ability to receive and treat patients that are at minimum, 20% above normal capacity would be during a mass casualty incident involving trauma, as well as a nuclear, biological, chemical or radiological attack. This includes developing an understanding of what the health system’s capabilities are as well as its limitations and how to overcome these in the face of disaster.
Syndromic Surveillance – Currently, Jamaica Hospital Medical Center participates in a DOHMH program by which it reports specific criteria based on a patient’s chief complaint on a daily basis in attempts to identify what could be deemed a biological terrorist event. The goal of this project is to increase the daily frequency of reporting while developing ways to enhance the criteria across different IT systems.
Jamaica Hospital Medical Center continues to actively engage in local and statewide disaster preparedness initiatives, including the Health Care Association of New York State (HANYS) Emergency Preparedness Advisory Council and the Greater New York Hospital Association (GNYHA) Emergency Preparedness Coordinating Council. Both hospital membership organizations collaborate with New York State Department of Health and New York City Department of Health.
Decontamination – The CBPP is tasked with enhancing decontamination capabilities by increasing the health system’s capacity to receive not only large quantities of contaminated people but those belonging to a special needs population including the elderly, mentally challenged and children.
Surge Capacity – The CBPP ensures the development of plans to increase the health system’s ability to receive and treat patients that are at minimum, 20% above normal capacity would be during a mass casualty incident involving trauma, as well as a nuclear, biological, chemical or radiological attack. This includes developing an understanding of what the health system’s capabilities are as well as its limitations and how to overcome these in the face of disaster.
Syndromic Surveillance – Currently, Jamaica Hospital Medical Center participates in a DOHMH program by which it reports specific criteria based on a patient’s chief complaint on a daily basis in attempts to identify what could be deemed a biological terrorist event. The goal of this project is to increase the daily frequency of reporting while developing ways to enhance the criteria across different IT systems.
Jamaica Hospital Medical Center continues to actively engage in local and statewide disaster preparedness initiatives, including the Health Care Association of New York State (HANYS) Emergency Preparedness Advisory Council and the Greater New York Hospital Association (GNYHA) Emergency Preparedness Coordinating Council. Both hospital membership organizations collaborate with New York State Department of Health and New York City Department of Health.