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By Holly Shanks
Published in "South County Times"
November 8, 2013
Come blizzard, ice storm, hail or high water, SSM St. Clare Health Center has been declared a Storm Ready supporter by the St. Louis National Weather Service (NWS).
The Storm Ready program is a collaboration between the St. Louis NWS and local city, county and business emergency management teams. The designation helps ensure hospital preparedness procedures are in place for weather hazards ranging from mild to severe.
Kelly Pearce, vice president of operations at SSM St. Clare Health Center in Fenton, said the Storm Ready program offers a chance to validate systems the center already has in place. He said the on-site evaluation required for certification also offers new perspectives and suggestions to assist in St. Clare's quality control efforts.
"We thought that it would be a great opportunity to try to improve ourselves. That was really the driving force behind it," Pearce said. "To bring additional experts in and make sure we are doing everything we can to keep our patients safe."
According to Jim Kramper, warning coordination meteorologist at the NWS St. Louis Office, Storm Ready started in the late 1990s in the Tulsa area. It was a way to recognize the good work local emergency management officials were doing in relation to weather preparedness. At that time, the process involved only cities and counties. The program began to grow and develop standards and qualifications based on population sizes. In an area with a larger population size a higher number of requirements would be necessary for certification.
As the Storm Ready program expanded, businesses and corporations wanted to be included. A set of guidelines were put in place for them as well. In 2001, Kramper began certifying cities, counties and businesses in the St. Louis area.
Cities and counties are classified as Storm Ready after certification. Kramper said there are currently nine city and county certifications in the St. Louis area, including Maplewood, Clayton, St. Louis County and St. Charles County.
Kramper said in the St. Louis area there are several universities and businesses that have been certified, such as Busch Stadium, the St. Louis Zoo, Lambert Airport, SSM Health Care Hospitals, Scott Air Force Base, Saint Louis University and Washington University.
Entities submitting a Storm Ready application are not automatically "rubber stamped," according to Kramper. Every application is verified with a site visit and evaluation that ensures the information submitted is correct. Surrounding local emergency management officials are consulted about an entity's preparedness practices as part of the application process as well. The site is revisited every three years to ensure standards are still in place.
Kramper said it was hoped the Storm Ready program would help entities receive some sort of benefit from the certifications, such as points for insurance programs. However, he does not believe those types of benefits have occurred yet.
In 2011 an F-5 tornado devastated Joplin. The St. John's Regional Medical Center was destroyed and the incident left an awareness of the need for disaster preparedness. The hospital is currently being rebuilt with storm preparedness in mind. The new facility is expected to open in 2015.
Pearce said the SSM St. Clare Health Center, which opened in 2009, was built with up-to-date building codes and is one of the most earthquake-proof buildings in this region. The Joplin incident was not the driving factor to spur improvements, but it heightened awareness and concern. He said even before the Joplin tornado, SSM St. Clare had a pro-active stance in terms of emergency preparedness.
"Certainly we want to be as ready as we possibly can," Pearce said. "I think periodic reviews by external resources are an excellent way to make sure that we aren't missing something."
Kramper said the Joplin tornado generated more interest in the Storm Ready program from local hospitals in the last two years.
"Hospitals looked at what happened in Joplin and they looked at what worked ... and what didn't work," said Kramper. "Some are making adjustments to their plans, but for the most part they were all in pretty good shape to begin with. That does not mean they can't make tweaks and improvements because there are always new things to learn"
Kramper said the biggest benefit from the Storm Ready program is recognition for the emergency management community. It tells citizens there are people doing a good job working behind the scenes in their area trying to keep them safe.
Click on the link below to visit the article in the South County Times:
http://www.southcountytimes.com/Articles-News-i-2013-11-08-190842.114137-Hospital-Strengthens-Storm-Ready-Status.html#63136
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