Hospital Emergency Incident Command System

Disaster Prevention and Management

ISSN: 0965-3562

Article publication date: 1 March 1999

163

Citation

(1999), "Hospital Emergency Incident Command System", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 8 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm.1999.07308aag.006

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 1999, MCB UP Limited


Hospital Emergency Incident Command System

Hospital Emergency Incident Command System

http://www.emsa.cahwnet.gov/heics3.htm

This is the Web site of the HEICS III Project ­ an effort to update and create a third edition of the Hospital Emergency Incident Command System (HEICS). HEICS features a flexible management organizational chart that allows individual hospitals to customize their responses.

In 1992, a generic disaster response plan was released and tested, and a second edition was developed and distributed throughout the United States, Canada, and across the globe. Following the 1994 Northridge, California, earthquake, HEICS was used successfully by some of the hospitals damaged in the quake. The plan has also been used in individual hospital emergencies and in many disaster exercises. From these experiences additional insight has been gained, and, with support from the California Emergency Medical Services Authority, San Mateo County Emergency Medical Services is updating the plan. This Web site provides the second edition of the HEICS plan and interested persons are encouraged to take a critical look at the document and return their comments to the team working on the update. In addition, the site offers the executive summary of the third edition, a list of FAQs (frequently asked questions) about HEICS, the system's organizational chart, and other information about the project.

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