SITUATION:
Coordinated Consulting Services (CCS) was hired in 2022 by the Arizona Coalition for Healthcare Emergency Response (AzCHER), in association with the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association (AzHHA), to develop and conduct four, regional Crisis Standards of Care (CSC) Workshops, including post workshop follow-up activities. The workshops were held in March and April 2023.
NEED:
In November of 2022, a request for proposal (RFP) was issued by AzHHA for a consultant to develop and facilitate four CSC Concept of Operations (CONOPS) Workshops. The AzCHER 2023 Virtual CSC Workshops were designed to provide training opportunities for participants to familiarize themselves with the Arizona CSC Plan and to facilitate alignment of the AzCHER CSC Concept of Operations (CONOPS) with the Arizona CSC Plan. The workshops were to complement AzCHER’s existing emergency response plan and lay the groundwork for the future development of the AZCHER CSC CONOPS.
SOLUTION:
CCS worked closely with the AzCHER Statewide Planning Manager to identify appropriate members of the workshop planning team. The workshop planning team helped to develop the workshop strategy and direction, goals and purpose, design and format, and lent their subject matter expertise to the planning activities and workshop materials. CCS took a cross-disciplinary approach to inviting workshop attendees including partners from across the AzCHER core membership including healthcare facilities, public health agencies, EMS agencies, and emergency management agencies.
CCS and AzCHER held several large meetings throughout the workshop design phase, including three Workshop Planning Team (WPT) Meetings, along with bi-weekly Core Planning Team meetings. All meetings were held virtually.
Data collection tools used for this project:
- Hot wash and notetaker notes
- Facilitated discussion boards
- Participant feedback survey data
OUTCOME:
Workshops were facilitated using a virtual platform. Each of the four workshops included learning segments about the Arizona CSC Plan and opportunities for workshop participants to ask questions and provide feedback in a variety of ways.
Workshop 1 – Preparing for Crisis Standards of Care included foundational information needed in planning for CSC in Arizona.
Workshop 2 – Staying in Contingency included information about conventional and contingency indicators and tactics at the healthcare facility, county and tribal, and state levels; response strategies; and the Arizona CSC Plan clinical concept of operations.
Workshop 3 – Activating, Implementing, and Collaborating on CSC included information about crisis indicators and response strategies, enhancing collaboration, incident command structure, and the real-life experiences of hospitals, emergency medical services (EMS), and people with Disabilities and Other Access and Functional Needs (DAFN) during Arizona CSC responses.
Workshop 4 – Supporting Staff and De-Activating CSC included discussions about supporting healthcare and hospital staff, public health staff, and family members during CSC as well as the process involved in deactivation of CSC.
CCS worked with the AzCHER core planning team to develop a Workshop Summary report following a full analysis of the data collected. Workshop findings were developed using feedback from workshop participants including recommendations relative to each of the CONOPS core elements. AzCHER CONOPS requirements were defined by the Hospital Preparedness Program, and each workshop was designed to address multiple CONOPS requirements.
The AzCHER 2023 Virtual Crisis Standards of Care (CSC) Workshops not only provided training opportunities for participants to familiarize themselves with the Arizona CSC Plan but was an opportunity to join a collaborative discussion with their clinical and healthcare peers on CSC priorities within Arizona.
