Assessing the infection prevention components of home health emergency management plans

Background Home health emergency management plans are essential and must address infection prevention issues. Few home health planning documents exist, and many of those that have been developed do not address infection prevention issues, combine them with non–infection prevention issues, or are disease/event-specific. An all-encompassing home health infection prevention emergency management planning guide is needed. Methods A literature review and Internet search were conducted in the summer of 2010, and data from relevant sources were extracted. A spreadsheet was created delineating home health emergency management plan components related to infection prevention. Results Of the sources screened, 41 were deemed relevant. Ten domains were identified: (1) having a plan; (2) assessing agency readiness; (3) having infection prevention policies and procedures; (4) having occupational health policies and procedures; (5) conducting surveillance and triage; (6) reporting incidents, having a communication plan, and managing information; (7) addressing surge capacity issues; (8) having anti-infective therapy and/or vaccines; (9) providing infection prevention education; and (10) managing water and waste management issues. Conclusion Home health disaster planners or managers should use this article as an assessment tool for evaluating their agency’s emergency management plan and for developing policies and procedures that will decrease the risk of infection transmission during a mass casualty event.