Open Forum

I'm seeking insight into your organization's policies regarding how to manage a 24-hour nurse triage (Work From Home) department during emergency situations. Specifically, I'm interested in best practices for handling the following scenarios:

1. Loss of Power/Internet for Remote Triage Nurses:

   • In the event that power or internet is lost, do your nurses report to a designated clinic to continue manning the triage department?

   • Do you have protocols in place for routing calls to a backup agency, potentially in another state, during such outages?

   • If power/internet is down, do you allow nurses to relocate to another location (e.g., a relative's home or a healthcare agency) as long as secure, non-public internet/wi-fi is available?

2. Weather-Related and Natural Disaster Warnings:

   • How do you handle situations such as flood warnings or other natural disasters that may impact nurse availability or safety during triage?

Any feedback on your organization's approach or policies would be greatly appreciated