Like many of you, due to the terror attack at the Boston Marathon, I was glued to the news for most of last week watching as the horror unfolded. On Friday night I sat watching CNN like it was a movie, as they captured Suspect #2. Although, I am deeply saddened and horrified by what happened, I am equally proud and in awe of the first responders and medical personnel in Boston. It is pretty amazing that only three people died that day and that we lost no more lives once they made it to the hospital. 

Our country has become more prepared over the last decade to deal with disaster response.  A new way of thinking to disaster response has emerged because hard lessons we have learned starting with the wake-up call of the Columbine shootings in 1999 to the latest Aurora movie theatre attack in 2012. The New Yorker had an excellent blog posted, “Why Boston’s Hospitals were Ready.”  It’s a fascinating article to read how the emergency teams were able to coordinate and the staff was able to respond quickly to those injured in the bombings. 

Over the last week many healthcare providers and first responders have asked themselves how would they handle a similar situation in their own city.  My question to healthcare staffing agencies, what could you have done to prepare your staff, as a medical staffing agency; in an event it was your city under attack.

Since a medical staffing agency doesn’t have a direct role in staffing a healthcare facility, in the event of mass casualties, there are many indirect ways a staffing agency can be prepared.  Here are a few ideas.

First, offer your providers an incentive to become a volunteer with the American Red Cross Disaster response team or volunteer with other community organizations who need medical personnel.

Medical staffing agencies can even become involved in corporate volunteer programs.  Since many have trained clinicians on their internal staff as well as healthcare providers, the Red Cross can use the unique skills to take part of their Ready When the Time Comes program. 

Secondly, have a database of caregivers who are clearly marked with the disaster training certification that can be contacted and activated quickly in the event of mass casualties.

Then, partner with your local facility and have a plan to staff them accordingly if a disaster occurs. Using SMS and mobile technology, medical staffing agencies can quickly get the word out to a larger pool of nurses than a typical facility can.

Lastly, coordinate a Blood Drive in your area to help refill the blood supply in your community after a major disaster.

Medical staffing agencies have a unique position in this country and the community. If medical staffing agencies use to their resources to their fullest potential they can activate their company and step in when the facility needs relief. 

Is your medical staffing agency prepared? 

\What have you done that would help you if you town had mass casualties?