The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) last week announced a new tool based on a project developed at the Johns Hopkins Evidence-Based Practice Center (EPC), a unit directed by GIM professor Dr. Eric Bass. The publication, entitled Tool for Evaluating Core Elements of Hospital Disaster Drills, aims to ensure that hospitals are prepared to respond appropriately to any type of disaster situation. The evaluation tool will assist hospitals participating in the Department of Health and Human Services’s Hospital Preparedness Program in summarizing the results of the disaster drills they conduct.
The AHRQ’s version abridges a more thorough evidence report developed at EPC, and focuses on the most critical elements to be evaluated in disaster drills. The AHRQ makes their version available on their website at http://www.ahrq.gov/prep/drillelements/. Single, free copies can be ordered by sending an e-mail to ahrqpubs@ahrq.hhs.gov or by calling 1-800-358-9295. AHRQ credits investigators Sara E. Cosgrove, MD, MS; Mollie W. Jenckes, MHSc, BSN; Lisa M. Wilson, ScM; Eric B. Bass, MD, MPH; and Edbert B. Hsu, MD, MPH as the report’s authors.
