Joint Commission: Comply with emergency management standards for infection-related events to meet Ebola threat

March 18th, 2015

In light of the threat of Ebola infections, The Joint Commission (TJC) is reminding accredited hospitals and other health care settings to comply with the current emergency management standards for infection related events.

“For emergency management, many of the standards that apply to hospitals apply to other settings across the care continuum,” TJC said in a statement. “As such, the Joint Commission’s emergency management standards provide a valuable foundation and guide for health care organizations to coordinate planning and response efforts.”

For hospitals the standards relating to emergency management and infectious disease preparedness and response include:

IC.01.03.01 The organization identifies risks for acquiring/transmitting infections

IC.01.05.01 The organization has an infection prevention and control plan

IC.01.06.01 The organization prepares to respond to an influx of potentially infectious patients

IC.02.01.01 The organization implements its infection prevention and control plan

C.02.02.01 The organization reduces the risk of infections associated with medical equipment, devices, and supplies

IC.02.03.01 The organization works to prevent transmission among patients, licensed independent practitioners and staff