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GOOD NEIGHBORS Carmen Slater, RN, BSN, CIC, quality, safety and infection control nurse manager at First Hill Surgery Center in Seattle, Wash., and Director of Nursing Lanie Dschaak, RN, BSN, MSN, MBA, outside the Bartell Drugs located a floor below their ASC.
Complying with CMS’s emergency preparedness requirement to provide shelter in place for those who’d remain in our surgery center during an emergency was going to be a tall order to fill. It’s not uncommon for there to be around 200 patients, providers, staff and family members in our 12-OR multi-specialty ASC at any given time. Where would we store all the food and water we’d need to have on site to shelter a couple hundred people for up to 72 hours? We found the solution in an unlikely place: the drug store located on the ground floor of our building (we take up the entire second floor). The manager of the Bartell’s store quickly agreed to a contract that would give us access to food and water from the store should we need to shelter in place. This has saved us tremendously. Otherwise, we might have been forced to lease additional storage space in our building, and check water and food expiries and replace as needed.
Carmen Slater, RN, BSN, CIC
First Hill Surgery Center
Seattle, Wash.
[email protected]
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