HUP, other local hospitals keep security plans at the forefront

As the war in Iraq escalates and people's fears about the possibility of domestic attacks rise, officials at local healthcare facilities -- including the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania -- say they are attuned to the public's concerns and can offer some nearby security.

Although no major changes have been made to procedures or policies since the country's recent military actions, hospitals seem to feel comfortable relying on already beefed-up emergency plans implemented in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

According to University of Pennsylvania Health System Corporate Safety Officer Bernard Dyer, the four hospitals affiliated with Penn -- HUP, the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center-Presbyterian, Pennsylvania Hospital and Phoenixville Hospital -- received a memo alerting employees to the recent increase in domestic terror threat level from "yellow" to "orange."

Dyer elaborated that raising awareness has translated into heightened observation of suspicious activity, increased vigilance in responding to such activity and the demand that identification badges be worn by all staff members.

Employees have been encouraged to contact security if they observe any abnormal activity, although additional security personnel have yet to be hired and hospital hours are yet to be extended.

Dyer said that such measures may be taken only "if the threat level were raised" even further, noting that hospitals have been receiving phone calls from people concerned about extra precautions.

"The response is pretty general," Dyer said. "It depends on the threat and on what the situation is.... It will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis by jurisdiction."

"We think that we have a good plan in place," Dyer added. "We think we are in good shape."

After Sept. 11, the four hospitals under the University Health System's umbrella and other local healthcare facilities, such as Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, revised their emergency procedures.

"We have done a lot of changes and made a lot of improvements since Sept. 11," Dyer said. "There is that heightened awareness that everybody has now."

As standard policy, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations requires all hospitals to perform at least two emergency response drills each year.

"Any time we activate the plan, we always have a critique afterwards," Dyer said. "A lot of this stems from Sept. 11. Our critiques of what we put in place [have] caused us to make some changes."

HUP most recently activated its emergency plan not as a result of war threats, but instead, due to the blizzard conditions in February.

With such a large healthcare facility, officials are concerned with synchronizing response procedures.

"We work to coordinate response over all four hospitals," Dyer said. "We have also increased coordination with University Public Safety and with Penn Police."

Other local medical facilities are also confident in their existing emergency procedures. Neither Jefferson University Hospital nor Hahnemann University Hospital plans to make specific changes in light of the country's involvement in war.

"We have an emergency preparedness plan in place. [That is] standard operating procedure," Jefferson University Hospital spokesman Jeffrey Baxt said.

Still, Baxt added that the hospital is now targeting emergency drills more toward biological and chemical types of crisis situations.

Specifically, "additional decontamination suits have been added [to the hospital's supplies] since Sept. 11," according to Baxt.

Besides securing its own plan and response, the University's Health System has offered suggestions to the general public.

"We encourage people to consider their family emergency plan," Dyer said. "They should consider what they might need if something were to happen. We refer them to Web sites -- the Red Cross has an excellent site on disaster planning for families."

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