Nashville, Tenn. - One key to effective incident management is developing an incident action plan to manage objectives, strategies and tactics for each operational period.  Across the critical infrastructure, incident action planning is a manual process.  Whiteboards, photocopied forms and logs are a cumbersome, inefficient process when managing objectives.  DisastersNet, Inc., a provider of emergency management software solutions for use in critical infrastructure, including healthcare, has developed the tool necessary to automate the emergency response process.  The Incident Action Plan (IAP) product module, in tandem with the DisastersNet Incident Management System (DIMS), allows incident command teams to adapt dynamically to any unplanned situation that arises during an emergency. 

DIMS is a fully automated, Web- or server-based, paperless platform that allows hospitals and other organizations in the nation’s critical infrastructure to conduct training exercises and to manage real-time emergencies using Homeland Security’s Incident Command System from a PC or mobile device. With the new IAP module integrated with DIMS, hospital incident command (IC) teams are able to respond quickly to unexpected situations by implementing incident action preplans, such as decontamination or mass vaccination, or by developing collaboratively specific action plans “on the fly” for each operational phase.

“With our Incident Action Plan module, we’re giving health care organizations a critical capability that has not been available before: the means to automate assessments and responses to unplanned events that arise during emergencies using the Web and mobile technology,” explained DisastersNet president Chris Riddle.

“Not even the most detailed disaster plan can foresee every single event or response need that will occur in an emergency situation. Safety teams must be able to incorporate flexibility into their responses without compromising speed or effectiveness. As the latest feature available on the DIMS platform, IAP offers a streamlined tool for preparing for and responding to unplanned events, thus improving incident management,” continued Riddle.

“The DIMS platform is the way of the future for emergency management, and DisastersNet’s new Incident Action Plan module takes DIMS to a whole new level of dynamic response. IAP gives safety teams the ability to assess any situation – including unplanned events – and then to develop and track specific tactical action plans. The best part is that IAP automates the entire process,” said Kent M. Schod, EMTP-AA, EHSM-AA, emergency management coordinator, Holy Cross Hospital.

During emergencies, DIMS does not confine IC team members to the command center or tie them to stacks of cumbersome binders. Instead, DIMS harnesses Web and mobile technology, sending notifications to team members’ mobile devices to let them know what needs to be done when, and to alert them of meetings and briefings, new task assignments, task status changes, deadlines, completion of tasks and objectives, and overall plan completion.

The DIMS module is preloaded with 28 response templates, ranging from events such as a bomb threat or a cyber attack to a major earthquake or a facility evacuation. In addition to these basic templates, the IAP module allows users to develop and pre-load their own unique plans or those developed as needed during emergencies.  

About DisastersNet, Inc. DisastersNet, Inc. helps organizations save lives by improving their ability to prepare for and respond to incidents that could impact employee or client safety. DisastersNet develops and implements fully automated, Web- or server-based, paperless emergency management systems for hospitals and other environments for use in real-time emergencies or during training exercises. The company’s emergency platform, called the Disaster Incident Management System (DIMS), was designed and developed by hospital safety officers, physicians and emergency management coordinators. Visit DisastersNet online at www.disastersnet.com.

For more information, contact: Laura Campbell, Laura Campbell & Associates Phone: 615-579-6599 Email: laura@laura-campbell.com