By Dean Samet, CHSP
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and American Water Works Association (AWWA) recently released a guide entitled Emergency Water Supply Planning Guide for Hospitals and Health Care Facilities¹. Guidance is provided to assist health care facilities in developing an Emergency Water Supply Plan (EWSP) that prepares for, responds to, and recovers from a partial or total interruption of the normal water supply. Obviously a water supply loss would have a significant adverse effect on the daily operations of any health care facility, potentially affecting both patient safety and the quality of patient care. While there is little that can be done to prevent losing an offsite supply, developing and exercising an EWSP can help lessen the impact should such an incident occur.
The CDC EWSP Guide provides a four-step process for developing an emergency water supply plan:
1. Assemble the appropriate EWSP team and the necessary background documents for your facility;
2. Understand your water usage by performing a water use audit;
3. Analyze your emergency water supply alternatives; and,
4. Develop and exercise your EWSP.
The Joint Commission accreditation standards require an Emergency Operations Plan that calls for organizations to have alternative means of providing for essential utilities during different types of emergencies, including the disruption or loss of its water supply. 2011 Emergency Management Standard EM.02.02.09, “As part of its Emergency Operations Plan, the hospital prepares for how it will manage utilities during an emergency.” Element of Performance (EP) 3 - Water needed for consumption and essential care activities. Element of Performance (EP) 4 - Water needed for equipment and sanitary purposes.
Det Norske Veritas (DNV) Healthcare’s National Integrated Accreditation for Healthcare Organizations (NIAHOSM) Interpretive Guidelines, PE.6 Emergency Management System Standard SR.5 also has similar requirements for the loss of essential utility systems including water. “SR.5 The Emergency Management System processes shall address alternative means to support essential building functions such as …, water,… and other identified utilities.”
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Conditions of Participation 42 CFR 482.41 CoP: Physical Environment also require that health care facilities develop plans for loss of essential utilities during emergency situations including water.
When and if possible, hospitals should identify more than one water supplier outside of the local community in case the community’s infrastructure is severely compromised and not able to support the hospital due to an incident or disaster.
Every health care facility, large or small, should have an emergency water supply plan (EWSP) to ensure patient safety and quality of patient care while responding to and recovering from a water emergency, whether it’s for a short or long duration.
For more information go to:
1) www.awwa.org
2) www.cdc.gov/healthywater/pdf/emergency/emergency-water-supply-planning-guide.pdf
The CDC EWSP Guide provides several examples of water usage to consider when developing an emergency water supply plan:
• Hand washing and hygiene
• Drinking at faucets and fountains
• Food preparation
• Flushing toilets and bathing patients
• Laundry and other services provided by central services (e.g., cleaning and sterilization of surgical instruments)
• Reprocessing of medical equipment, including that typically performed by special services (e.g., bronchoscopy, gastroenterology)
• Patient care (e.g., hemodialysis, hemofiltration, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, hydrotherapy)
• Radiology
• Fire suppression sprinkler systems
• Water-cooled medical gas and suction compressors
• Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC)
• Decontamination/hazmat response
¹) Emergency Water Supply Planning Guide for Hospitals and Health Care Facilities. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; 2011
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