Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Response
Being ready for fires, medical and behavioral emergencies, severe weather, threats and outages: emergency action plans, evacuation and accounting for everyone, emergency communication, keeping care going (business continuity), incident reporting, and each employee's responsibilities.
Online, self-paced · about 30 minutes · graded exam and certificate
Who should take it
All employees, including telehealth and remote staff. Designated evacuation leaders and managers have added responsibilities.
National course on emergency preparedness principles. Your organization's site-specific plan, local fire codes, state licensing rules and any CMS or accreditation requirements for your provider type also apply. The online course doesn't replace walking your exit routes or taking part in drills.
What employees will learn
- ✓Describe what an emergency action plan contains and when it must be reviewed with you.
- ✓Respond to a fire and evacuate safely, accounting for clients and staff.
- ✓Respond to medical and behavioral emergencies within your role.
- ✓Prepare for severe weather and shelter-in-place or lockdown situations.
- ✓Explain emergency communication and how care continues during disruptions.
- ✓Report incidents after an emergency.
Topics covered
- •Medical emergencies
- •Behavioral emergencies
- •Fire safety and evacuation
- •Severe weather
- •Emergency communication
- •Emergency response plans
- •Business continuity
- •Incident reporting
- •Staff emergency responsibilities
Sources this course is based on
- OSHA emergency action plans (29 CFR 1910.38) · eCFR
- OSHA fire prevention plans (29 CFR 1910.39) · eCFR
- CMS emergency preparedness for community mental health centers (42 CFR 485.920) · eCFR
- HIPAA Security Rule contingency plan (45 CFR 164.308(a)(7)) · eCFR
- CISA: Active Shooter Preparedness · Other
- Ready.gov: business emergency planning · Other
This course is not accredited for continuing education credit and is not approved by a government agency. Training supports, but does not guarantee, your organization's compliance. Course content explains federal rules and accepted practice; state requirements may differ.