7.16 – Emergency Preparedness Disaster Policy—Derrer Road

1. Purpose and Introduction:

The purpose of this policy is to is to provide Open Door with a formal protocol for emergency preparedness/disaster recovery and to continue normal business operations and continued service delivery. Derrer Road facility will comply with all local, state, and federal regulations related to Emergency Preparedness.

The purpose of this plan is to provide information on how to respond to emergency incidents by outlining the responsibilities and duties of employees Open Door. Developing, maintaining, and exercising the plan empowers employees to act quickly and knowledgably. The plan educates employees, and other key stakeholders on their roles and responsibilities before, during, and after an incident. This plan provides individuals served, employees, and others of the community with assurances that Open Door has established guidelines and procedures to respond to incidents/hazards in an effective way

This EMERGENCY PLAN has been created in order to provide a safer environment for the employees and those served. The development of this plan, as overseen by the Planning Team/Crisis Management Team, is tailored to meet the particular needs of Open Door and its facilities.  The purpose sets the foundation for the rest of the EMERGENCY PLAN.  The Basic Plan outlines the Executive Director’s approach to crisis management and operations. It provides general guidance for crisis management activities and an overview of Open Door methods of prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery.

The specific objectives of this plan include:

• Separate Location-specific Assessment of risks using the All Hazards Risk Assessment Method.  This plan is developed to mitigate risks identified.
  • Provide for health and safety and well-being of people on the premises and people served at the time of the disaster
  • Minimize interruptions to normal operations
  • To limit extent of disruption and damage
  • To minimize economic impact of the interruption
  • To establish alternateive means of operation in advance
  • To train personnel with emergency procedures
  • To provide for smooth and rapid restoration of service
  • To ensure compliance with all local, state, and federal regulations
  • To provide clear, communication plan for emergencies
  • To collaborate and directly involve Emergency Management resources and community action agencies for support during crisis.
• Identified Risks/Risk Assessment utilizing All Hazards Method:

This section includes types of identified emergencies that could occur within the facility or service areas and those that could occur in the community. 

A Risk assessment (using ALL HAZARDS METHOD) is completed annually for each Open Door location separately.  A copy of the location specific risk assessment will be kept at the Corporate Office for Open Door and at the location in the Emergency Preparedness Notebook. 

Risks and hazards to individuals served and employees fall into two general categories; natural and man-made.  Natural risks include severe weather and other crises caused by nature while man-made risks include all the crises that are not natural, to include those that are criminal in nature.  All potential crises that are moderate or high risk are included in this plan and most have a specific annex assigned to them.

When assessing the facility, the Specfic Risk categories identified for this facility include, but are not limited to, the following:

Natural hazards, weather related, geographic, physical/building, technological/IT data and human error.

1. Natural hazards/Weather related-fires, severe weather, tornadoes, earthquakes, hazardous material spills, transportation accidents, utility failures and outages, Snow/ice/winter storms, flood, lightning, wind damage
2. Geographic-Proximity to railroad lines and freeways, flood plains, and companies that store, make, use or transport hazardous materials
3. Physical/building-Community health risks, Indoor air quality: molds, layout of equipment, lighting, fire sprinkler and suppression systems, emergency water systems, leech bed, generators/fuel systems
4. Technological/IT Data-equipment, software, or data security failure, backup data failure, network security, loss of personnel, financial data, stolen devices or flash drives, telecommunications failure, Computer system failure, power failure, and heating/cooling system failure
5. Human error-Poor training, poor maintenance, carelessness, misconduct, substance abuse, fatigue
6. Unrest-Political, Social, Terrorist attacks, arson, bombing, sabotage, workplace violence, or threatening persons

FOR SPECIFIC PROCEDURES RELATED TO EACH OF THESE IDENTIFIED RISK AREAS–REFER TO POLICIES IN 7.00 SERIES WHICH OUTLINE WHAT TO DO FOR EACH SPECIFIC EMERGENCY.

• Risk Assessment of Functional Needs of Population Served- Open Door is committed to the safe evacuation and transport of individuals served with functional needs.  The functional needs population includes, but is not limited to, individuals with:

Multiple Disabilities                          Hearing Impaired

Visual Impaired                                  Speech/Language Impairment

Emotional Disturbance                       Intellectual disability

Specific Learning Disability              Autism

Traumatic Brain Injury                       Other Health Impaired -Minor

NOTE: Those with temporary needs will notify the Executive Director or the Executive Director’s designee who will coordinate for that assistance.

• Building information:

• The building is located at 340 Derrer Rd.   A floor plan of the building is also included in emergency preparedness book.

• A site plan and floor plan of the building annotated with fire alarm pull stations, fire extinguishers, first aid kits, hazardous materials storage, and utility shutoffs are included at the beginning of this plan. Maintenance employees are required to know these locations as well as how to operate the utility shutoffs. 

1. Open Door will continue to be exposed and subject to the impact of the hazards outlined in the plan as well as other hazards that may develop in the future.
2. It is possible for a major disaster to occur at any time and at any place. Dissemination of warning to the public and implementation of increased readiness measures may be possible. However, some crisis situations occur with little or no warning.
3. A single site crisis (e.g., fire, gas main break etc.), can occur at any time without warning and employees cannot, and should not, wait for direction from your local response agencies. Action is required immediately to save lives, reduce the number and severity of injuries, and protect property.
4. There may be a number of injuries of varying degrees of seriousness to employees. Rapid and appropriate response will reduce the number and severity of injury.
5. Outside assistance will be available in most crisis situations. Since it takes time to summon external assistance, it is essential for Open Door to be prepared to carry out the initial crisis response on an independent basis.
6. Proper prevention and mitigation actions, such as regular planning and fire inspections, can reduce crisis-related losses. Detailed crisis planning, training of employees/individuals served, and conducting crisis drills and exercises can improve Open Door’s readiness.
7. There is no guarantee that this plan is a perfect response. As personnel and resources may be overwhelmed, Open Door can only endeavor to make every reasonable effort to plan appropriately, quickly respond to all crisis situations, with the resources and information available at the time of the crisis.
8. Maintaining the EMERGENCY PLAN  and providing frequent opportunities for employees to exercise the plan through drills and tabletop exercises can improve their readiness to respond to incidents.

• Employees will likely be first on the scene of a crisis situation within Open Door. They will normally take charge of the incident until it is resolved or others who have legal authority to do so assume responsibility. They will seek guidance and direction from local officials and seek technical assistance from state and federal agencies and industry where appropriate. The Executive Director or the Executive Director’s designee will activate this plan when notified that a crisis is about to occur, is occurring or has taken place. 
• When looking up the protocols on how to handle specific crisis situations, the EMERGENCY PLAN  lists the specific crises by the nature of the event.  Again, the protocols in the plan are organized by type of crisis.
• This plan is based upon the concept that the crisis functions that will be performed by Open Door generally parallel some of the normal day- to-day functions. To the extent possible, the personnel and material resources used for day-to-day activities will be employed during crisis situations. Because personnel and equipment resources are limited, some routine functions that do not contribute directly to the crisis may be suspended for the duration of a crisis. The personnel, equipment, and supplies that would normally be required for those functions will be redirected to accomplish crisis tasks.
• Local government is responsible for organizing, training, and equipping local crisis responders and crisis management personnel, providing appropriate crisis facilities, suitable warning, and communications systems, and for contracting for crisis services. The state and federal governments offer programs that provide some assistance with portions of these responsibilities.
• The Executive Director (or his/her representative in his/her absence) is responsible for activating the EMERGENCY PLAN  and the initial response associated with that activation such as:

• Evacuation – Requires all employees to leave the building.

• Reverse Evacuation – Requires all employees to go to safe places in the building from outside the building.

• Lock down – All exterior doors are locked and employees stay in their offices.

• Shelter-in-place – Employees are held in the building, windows and doors are closed and remain locked.  Limited movement is allowed. Shelter-in-place is typically used when there is an external theft which makes if potentially unsafe for the employees to go outside

Levels of Emergency:

1. Open Door will implement emergency actions based on severity levels depending on the department/building affected.  The levels of emergency are defined for PWCA in the table below:

• Crisis Response Team Incident Coordinators/Persons in-charge in disaster plan and continuation of services:

• Crisis Response Team Coordinators and Assigned Areas:

Dependency on Outside Agencies

1. It is a functional reality that Open Door is dependent upon outside agencies for critical services and resources during many crises.  These agencies include but are not limited to local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, local fire departments, local and state health departments, local and state social service agencies, local and state medical departments and agencies, and the utility companies which service Open Door. Throughout this plan (specifically in the functional and hazard specific annexes), specific persons (by position) are responsible for coordinating with these agencies during the planning process, during the crisis response and when recovering from a crisis.  Unless noted differently by the incident commander during a crisis, the following persons are responsible for coordinating with the following agencies on which we are dependent:
2. Facilities – All utility companies including but not limited to water, gas, power and telephone services.
3. Executive Director or the Executive Director’s designee – County emergency management agency and all law enforcement agencies.
4. Mental health support (post crisis).
5. The Executive Director is responsible for ensuring this coordination take place in support of this EMERGENCY PLAN . 
6. Emergency and non-emergency contact numbers and names (to the extent possible) are included in the attachments at the end of this plan.

Coordination with Emergency responders

Various agencies and services will be involved in responding to incidents, including emergency responders from our local law enforcement, safety, fire, and emergency agencies, as well as mental health and other community organizations. (Contact numbers are listed in phone list attachment to this plan)

An important component of the EMERGENCY PLAN is advanced planning with the various federal, state, and local agencies and community service providers to aid in timely communication and response to an incident.

Law enforcement will:

• Provide emergency response when appropriate.

• Assume incident command (when appropriate) during an incident.

• Participate in the establishment, review and updating of this plan as appropriate.

• Participate in emergency exercises when possible. 

• Fire department will:

• Provide emergency response when appropriate.

• Assume incident command (when appropriate) during an incident.

• Participate in the establishment, review and updating of this plan as appropriate.

• Participate in emergency exercises when possible. 

• Emergency management agency will:

• Participate in the establishment, review and updating of this plan as appropriate.

• Participate in emergency exercises when possible. 

• Provide emergency planning expertise when requested in an effort to allow Open Door to be in the best possible position to avoid emergencies.

• Assist Open Door leadership in coordinating recovery efforts after an emergency has taken place (as appropriate

Initial Notification Requirements/Communication Plan:

Open Door’s communication plan involves the following methods for communication:

Primary: Phone service, Emergency company cellular phones or tablet devices, fax machines, scan and email functions.

Secondary means for communication: 

• Open Door has Mass communication through email to any and all stakeholders using an outside software.  The Director and Marketing personnel can access this outside of the facility at any time.
  • Open Door participates in the Healthcare Coalition for Franklin County.  The Coalition can assist with MASS TV/RADIO communications for disaster response and recovery.  The Director is a contact with the Coalition. 
  • Open Door Website postings
  • Employee Portal communications
  • Brittco staff messaging
  • Physically driving to deliver messages when all other communications fail.
  • In an emergency situation, all employees are instructed to notify 9-1-1 and the Open Door Incident Hotline (614-701-6993)  for their assigned division.   
  • The INCIDENT HOTLINE must immediately notify the person-in charge of the division where the emergency occurred.
  • The Person in-charge in emergency will determine the level of emergency using the definitions listed above.
  • The Person in-charge will notify the EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR with details of the emergency and level determined. 
  • The EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR will notify the Open Door Board of Directors and keep them updated throughout the process.  The EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR will notify insurance company of emergency.
  • The EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR will notify members of the Crisis Response Team with details of emergency, emergency level, and implement the Disaster Plan.(Notification should be made by text message, call, and email.) 
  • Open Door has emergency cellular phone on site in the vehicles and extra at the front desk which can be accessed by staff at all times.  
  • All stakeholders will be notified by utilized using mass communication platforms to notify all staff, individuals and stakeholders and in writing throughemail or via mass press releases, when appropriate.  Open Door has paid for subscriptions and prepared emergency contact lists in software which will cover all means for phone, email, and text communications in an emergency.  If all communication methods are unable to be used,  The Director, CRT TEAM, or EMA may be required to go on-site to communicate directly.  Open Door will utilize all website, social media platforms for additional communication sources. 

• Emergency/Crisis Response Plan:
  • Each Open Door location has established emergency procedures.  These policies give specific procedures that must be followed regarding action plans for: full facility evacuations, fires, severe weather, bomb threats, electrical services, carbon monoxide alarm, telephone disruption, and chemical spills/exposure.  A copy of these policies can be located in the Emergency Preparedness/Crisis Response Plan Notebook at the location, at the Corporate Office, and in the shared folder on Open Door network for CRT and on our Open Door website.

• If the Derrer Road location cannot be utilized due to disaster/emergency, all individuals will follow the full evacuation procedures outlined specifically in policy 7.15. 

RELOCATION: All individuals will be relocated to the Corporate office CAC for Open Door at 540 Industrial Mile Rd. Cols Ohio, 43228.   

• The Corporate Office at 540 Industrial Mile Road, Columbus Ohio, 43228 will serve as the “command center” if it is able to be used at that time.

• In the event that the Corporate Office cannot be used, the facility at Open Door Art Studio (ODAS) at 1050 Goodale Blvd. will be designated as the “command center” for the Derrer location and can be used as emergency placement.

• If the locations above are not available or if need for long term placement is determined, the facility will work with families, counties, and all other Emergency Management and community resources for relocation.  Additionally, Open Door has agreements with hotels for temporary placements.

• In Case of emergency/disaster preparedness, the Administrator of the division will be responsible for being in-charge of directing actions.

• The Emergency Preparedness/Crisis Response Notebook and Shared file will be kept by Administrator and one copy at the Command Center and a copy at the PWCA front desk.   

The Director of Services and Executive Director are responsible to assign who is responsible for updating each form within the notebook.  These notebooks must be updated monthly and contain the following for each division/department:

1. Indication of what is needed for each emergency level (Green-Yellow-Red) for all individuals served:
2. Technology/IT/Equipment
3. Food/ nutrition supply
4. Medical equipment
5. Medication
6. Personal care equipment
7. Adaptive equipment
8. Financial needs
9. Transportation needs
10. Staffing support—temporary staffing contacts, admin reassignments to locations; ADS staff reassignment to locations; volunteers/interns
11. Phone numbers: including all individual contacts, physicians
12. Emergency management contacts

• Vendor list with reference numbers, emails, and other contacts
  • List of emergency financial resources
  • List of insurance documents and procedures
  • List of emergency contacts for all indivduals being served
  • IT Priority List/Service Continuation Priority list
  • Employee Assistance Resource list
  • Sheet to document specifically where individual will be relocated with verification that they made it to the site for relocation and that team has been notified
• Accounting for all Individuals Involved in Crisis

The facility is responsible for: How employees will determine who is in attendance at each assembly area, What to do when a, employee, or guest cannot be located, How employees will report to the Executive Director or Executive Director’s designee, How and when employees will be released, and Account for All Persons.

The CRT team must confirm all, individuals, employees, and visitors are accounted for before, during, and after a crisis.  Each employee will establish accountability of who is and who is not in the building.  The information will be accumulated and maintained by the Executive Director or the Executive Director’s designee in order to establish a total number of employees in the building per written schedule.

Attendance must  be taken as soon as safely possible after a crisis event (e.g. evacuation, lock-down) and again at the conclusion of the crisis; whether still in your location, or at a point at the off-site evacuation center.  Attendance should be logged in Emergency Book.

Each employee will, once they have established accountability of themselves and those they may be responsible for and moved to the appropriate safe rally point, notify the Executive Director or the Executive Director’s designee of the attendance results.

The Executive Director or the Executive Director’s designee will notify the law enforcement officials of any missing individual, employees, or guests. 

The Executive Director or the Executive Director’s designee will direct the maintenance employees to conduct a search of the building and its grounds (if safe) in an effort to find the any missing persons.  If this cannot be done, for any reason, emergency responders will be notified.

Immediately after a crisis is declared to be over and normal operations have been established, all employees will conduct complete accountability for those they are responsible for.  Each employee will then report to the Executive Director or the Executive Director’s designee a count of all employees present and a by name list of all individuals, employees, and visitors not accounted for at the rally point.  An example would be “I am Mr. Smith from the JT location, and I have 18 indivdiduals and 5 employees with me.  I am missing one, Jimmy Dash.” 

The Executive Director or the Executive Director’s designee will establish full accountability based on the incoming reports from all employees and will continuously update this information until all individuals and employees are accounted for.

If any person is reported as being missing and as safety allows, maintenance personnel will search the building and its grounds for the missing persons.  If this is impossible for any reason, that information will be relayed to the Executive Director and the first responders.

• Resuming Operations/Continuation of services:
  • The Emergency/Crisis Response Team members will also serve as the recovery team.
  • The Emergency/Crisis Response Notebook will be used to identify the Service continuation priority list.
  • During recovery, the CRT team must monitor safety of all personnel and individuals being served on grounds.
  • All hazards or potential hazards should be continuously assessed throughout with clear communication to Administrator in-charge.
  • Communication will be distributed and maintained with all employees, individuals, and other stakeholders throughout the emergency using Dial My Call, Salsa Connects, internet, phone, mail, cell phone texts, or any other means permitted by the CRT team.  NOTE: All media discussions must only go through Director.
  • The CRT team will be responsible to account for all damage-related costs.  The necessary inventories and assessments will be completed with insurance or other adjusters.
  • The CRT team will be responsible to report any work order or maintenance needs and prioritize completion. 
  • The CRT team will be responsible to purchase items needed to restore equipment considered critical.
  • The CRT team will ensure protection of undamaged property and security of the grounds.
  • The CRT team will coordinate actions with appropriate government agencies.

• Disaster Preparedness On-Going Assessment:

• Annually, Open Door will conduct a Hazard Identification Vulnerability Assessment, Risk Analysis, and Readiness Assessment.
  • Results of these assessments will be reviewed by Open Door Management team during the weekly management meeting
  • The recommendations will be used to make necessary revisions to the Crisis Response Notebook, shared drive and to Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Recovery Policy.  This policy will be reviewed and updated annually.

• Staff Training:
  • All Open Door staff will be trained on emergency preparedness procedures and disaster response policies initially in orientation and on-going annually.
  • Open Door will perform Emergency Preparedness/Disaster Response drills practicing training exercises with all procedures outlined in this policy including a full test of the IT back-up systems at least twice each year. 
  • The Safety Committee will be responsible to review and make recommendations for changes based on outcomes identified in any of the emergency drills.
  • When possible, the CRT team at Open Door will participate in any external drills or exercises sponsored by local crisis responders. Availability of employees and the nature of the drill or exercise shall govern the degree to which Open Door will participate as it relates to improving their ability to respond to and deal with crises.
  • Open Door Crisis response team will take place in annual Life Safety/ER Preparedness Conference through OHCA to stay abreast of all regulatory standards. Open Door is a member of the list serve which provides Rules/Regulation updates.  Director will be responsible to update this entire ER PREPAREDNESS PLAN for each new updated regulatory standard and arrange training for Open Door teams.  The Director will update ER PREP PLAN AND POLICY at least annually and with any change. 
• Individual and Family/Guardian Information
  • Open Door will provide a copy of the emergency preparedness policy/plan to the individuals and their representatives at admission and review at least annually.  A link will be present on Open Door website for access at all times.

Last Revised: 3/23/23