HAP Blog

Winter is coming.

No, not just the ominous metaphor from “Game of Thrones”; literally, winter is coming for us.

Hospitals all over the nation are juggling dozens of challenges at once, with inpatient units near capacity and emergency departments often overcrowded. We’re maintaining everyday operations while trying to stay ahead of a novel virus. Then, there are the staffing shortages.

We know what supply chain disruptions mean for health care facilities. Early during 2020, our supply chain headaches complicated our efforts to combat a novel virus, as everyday items like masks, gloves, and gowns became precious resources, and we struggled to source ventilators and other essential medical equipment needed for patient care.

While we’ve always been able to count on our flu strategies, here comes the curveball. COVID-19 has changed the landscape for infectious disease planning, mitigation, and response. Interest in public health is at an all-time high as people seek out information to make health decisions from reliable and not-so-reliable sources. This winter, hospitals could face a potential flu epidemic on top of their COVID-19 caseloads.

A simple fact that’s true for all emergency managers: how we use our time between emergencies determines our success during the next one.

Emergency Management, just as other professional jobs in the U.S., is experiencing resource and talent shortages. The perceived value of emergency management has never been higher, which may be adding to the potential resource shortage as is the fact that many facilities are looking to build new or augment existing capabilities.