News

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Does your practice have an emergency response plan?

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‘We can’t afford to be complacent.’
 
That is Associate Professor Glynn Kelly’s message to his fellow GPs and practice teams.
 
Whether it be bushfires, floods, a pandemic like COVID-19, or even a cyberattack, the Chair of RACGP Specific Interests Disaster Management says no practice is immune from finding itself at the centre of a natural disaster or emergency.
 
‘They are a fact of life in Australia,’ Associate Professor Kelly told newsGP.
 
‘And we know that one of the keys to contributing to an emergency response is to be prepared.
 
‘It is too late to prepare when an emergency hits.’
 
However, preparation is not just about being aware that disaster may come but also developing a suitable plan and ensuring any existing plans are up to date.
 
To help guide practices through the process, the RACGP has released its new ‘Managing emergencies and disasters in general practice’ resource.
 
It provides a clear picture of what teams need to consider when developing their unique plans, and encourages practices to:

• determine the scope and diversity of events that may affect their practice
• understand the potential serious business implications, including financial impacts
• think about their unique circumstances (location/practice size/number of staff/facilities) and develop a plan that is suited to their specific needs
• prepare for, respond to and recover from the impacts of emergencies and disasters.

The resource also contains information boxes that provide actionable steps that practices can take to build or refresh their emergency response plans, along with examples of how they may choose to present the information.
 
Associate Professor Kelly was part of the RACGP’s Working Group that helped develop the new resource. He says drafting a plan is the first step but notes that exercising that plan is just as important.
 
‘There’s no point having a plan that sits on your shelf, oh shoot, a disaster hits – “what are we going to do? Oh, let’s pull the plan down”. It’s too late – you need to exercise that plan,’ he advised.
 
‘It can simply be a desktop exercise where you get all the practice together and say “let’s pretend there’s a flood, what are we going to do? Who’s going to do this? Who’s going to do that? Who’s going to phone these people? If our electricity goes down, do we have a backup plan?”.’
 
The Queensland-based GP notes that this process is not only about ensuring a practice can respond and support its patients but also maintaining the safety of the GP and practice staff.
 
‘I certainly don’t want a GP going to do the brave thing, wading into floodwaters and getting swept away and drowning,’ he said.
 
Associate Professor Kelly is well versed in disaster planning having Chaired the Division of General Practice in Canberra.
 
There he was responsible for developing the ACT GP Disaster Response Plan, which was activated in the 2003 Canberra bushfires when several practices were forced to close and evacuation centres were set up.
 
‘The plan worked well … because all the practices basically knew what they should be doing and there was communication, which is vital in a disaster,’ he recalls.
 
Associate Professor Kelly says the importance of clear and consistent communication became particularly evident during Australia’s COVID-19 pandemic response in 2020.
 
‘Communication worked counterproductively,’ he explained.
 
‘One state government might say do X, Federal Government may say Y, the local infectious diseases physicians may say Z, and you didn’t know which one to follow.
 
‘So, it has been agreed now that if any message goes out on disasters, it has to be a consistent message that is agreed on by all parties.’
 
The Working Group behind the new resource’s development also helped inform the RACGP’s recent update to its position statement on ‘The role of general practitioners in disasters and emergencies’, which is advocating for greater integration of GPs, and general practice more broadly, into formal systems of disaster response, as well as dedicated funding and support.
 
Associate Professor Kelly noted the importance of GPs being recognised for the vital role they continue to play well after a disaster has passed.
 
‘One of the things that people don’t appreciate is the GPs will be there for their patients not just for a day or two, or a week or two – it’ll be months or years supporting them through the trauma, the PTSD, the anxiety, the depression, the grieving and so on,’ he explained.
 
‘It is also vital that general practice be involved in the debriefing because that’s where you learn so much; what went well, what didn’t go well, what can we do better next time.’
 
But as climate change becomes a growing concern, and natural disasters are forecast to become more frequent, Associate Professor Kelly says the first step GPs and practice teams can take is starting with a plan for their own practice.
 
‘Many GPs say, “I’m too busy”. The reality is, if a disaster occurs, their practice may be affected, it may close down, they may not have any income and they’ll still need to pay their staff and the landlord will probably still want them to pay rent,’ he cautioned.
 
‘If they don’t have a plan, they need to start looking at that today, tomorrow, certainly in a few days because the fact is disasters could occur any time, even when you are not expecting them.
 
‘The resources are there; it’s just a matter of sitting down and doing them.’
 
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disaster management emergency response plan RACGP resource

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