Emergency Preparedness: Kitchen and/or Serving Areas

Sometimes the emergency is that there is no longer a kitchen in which to prepare meals. It is necessary, of course, to have a plan in advance for such an emergency, especially if the plan is to use another kitchen.

It may be possible to temporarily use another area in the facility to prepare a simplified, cold menu. In investigating potential areas, check the electrical outlets and if they are connected to the emergency generator. In some cases, it might be possible to move portable refrigeration units to another area. Also check to see if it will be possible to keep this area secure.

For an emergency lasting longer, it might be possible to use the kitchen of other establishments. Another healthcare facility, restaurant, school, church, banquet hall, and mobile kitchens are all possibilities. Transportation needs to be planned as well. A contract in advance is also necessary.

Another option is to contract out to have someone in the community prepare and deliver meals to your facility. If it is not another healthcare facility doing this, keep in mind that you may have to educate on diets and healthcare standards for food safety and sanitation.

If the dining rooms are not available for service, consider other areas such as activity rooms, therapy rooms, lounges, and meeting rooms. Room service is also an option, provided there are enough trays and carts available for this type of service.

What other kitchen and/or serving areas are available to you?

Emergency Preparedness: Deliveries

Many disasters can create the emergency of not being able to have food and supplies delivered as scheduled.

A very simple procedure that can eliminate this during short-term emergencies is to use skip days. For example, if the delivery normally comes in on Wednesday, skip Thursday, and don’t start using the delivery until Friday. Frequently, if the delivery cannot be delivered on the normal delivery day, it can be delivered the next day. This simple procedure prevents an emergency from even occurring.

Other things to do include identifying the food normally available and how these items can be used in the menu or in a simplified menu. There is also the emergency menu that can be used when needed. Most states have regulations related to needing a three-day supply on hand.

It is also good to have contracts with back-up vendors. Perhaps a delivery cannot be made because of an emergency between your facility and the warehouse. A more local vendor may not have any difficulties. It may also be possible to obtain food and supplies from alternative sources and establishments in the community. It is necessary to have contracts in advance of an emergency, however.

What contracts do you have in place?

Emergency Preparedness: Staff

Many disasters can also cause an emergency related to lack of staff. Staff may not be able to come to work.

In these cases, it may be necessary to go to simplified diets and a simplified menu so that it does not take as much time to prepare and serve meals. It may also be necessary to use disposables if there is not adequate staff to operate the dishroom.

It may be possible to utilize staff from other departments and maybe even from other facilities if the scope of the emergency is small.

In the cases of advance warning, such as a hurricane or blizzard, staff may be able to come to work prior to the storm hitting. The reverse is also possible, in that staff may not be able to leave during a disaster. Both these scenarios may occur throughout the facility. In these cases, it is necessary to have a plan on how to feed these people.

What are your facility policies on ensuring adequate staff in an emergency?

Emergency Preparedness: Communication and Computers

Two other important considerations are communication and computers.

The most obvious form of communication is telephone. If the phone lines are down and/or the cell towers are down, it is important to be able to contact staff outside the facility. The facility plan will probably work for the dining services department as well as the rest of the facility, but the manager must know what the plan is.

Another consideration to is have all staff phone numbers, cell, home, and others as appropriate, easily accessible during an emergency. For example, it doesn’t help to have the numbers in your own phone if you cannot access your phone or in the computer if you cannot access the computer.

And if the cell phones are working, but the power is out, there needs to be a way to recharge the cell phone batteries. Check to be sure there are sufficient outlets connected to the emergency generator.

The computer stores a vast amount of data. If the computer is not accessible, it is important to determine in advance of an emergency how to access that data. In some cases keeping hard copies on file will work. Another option would be to have the files backed up so the information can be accessed through a laptop computer, provided there is a method to keep the batteries charged. Also check to see if the printer will be available.

Many facilities store information and communicate through an intranet. The manager must know what the facility plan is if that is to go down.

A great deal of communication occurs over the Internet, including order placement. If computers and/or the Internet are not available, there needs to be a back-up plan for placing orders and other types of communication.

As dependent as we are on computers and instant communication, this could be a difficult situation to handle in an emergency.

What comments do you have on addressing this issue?

Emergency Preparedness: Water

In a water emergency, it may be that there is no water coming into the facility, the water coming into the facility is unsafe and cannot be used, or the water coming into the facility is unsafe and can be made safe by boiling or purification. Each situation requires a slightly different plan.

In developing water emergency plans, first identify water needs under each situation. Some considerations include water for drinking for residents, staff, and others; food preparation and cooking; washing hands; and cleaning and sanitizing dishware, utensils, and equipment. Another consideration is whether dining services is to supply water just for the department’s needs or for the entire facility.

Possibilities for water include bottled water supply on hand, water delivery, or storing water if there is advance notice (collapsible containers). If purification kits are used, the appropriate amount needs to be kept on hand as part of emergency supplies.

A critical aspect of the water emergency plan is how to communicate to staff not to use the water at all or to use it after proper boiling or purifying, depending on the situation. Follow-up that staff is using proper procedures is critical.

Another often forgotten aspect is the ice machine. If the water is not safe, neither is the ice. The machine needs to be shut down and emptied as quickly as possible so no one uses contaminated ice accidentally. When the emergency is over, the machine needs to be cleaned and sanitized.

Are there other sources of water that you use?

Emergency Preparedness: Electricity and Gas

In planning for a loss of electricity, the first thing to do is to identify all equipment that is on electrical power. This may include lights in preparation, serving, and storage areas; refrigerators and freezers; cooking equipment; dishwasher; booster heaters; outlets; elevators or dumbwaiters; and water heaters.

Next, determine which of these items are connected to the emergency generator. What emergency lighting will you have? Which outlets (if any) will work? Will you have any cooking equipment? Holding equipment? Refrigeration? Hot water?

Then it is a matter of determining how to make due without the equipment that is not on the generator. Consider incorporating some of the following into your plan.

• Refrigerator/freezer units: use food, move to other establishments, borrow refrigerated truck, allow minimum access.
• Cooking equipment: gas equipment, switch to cold menu, outside grill.
• Holding equipment: chafing dishes and sternos for hot, ice in pans for cold.
• Dishwasher: switch to disposables, disposable foil pans for cooking.
• Booster heater: chemical sanitizers.
• Outlets: ready-to-serve texture modified meals, slice by hand, manual can openers.
• Elevators: system for manual transport.
• Water heaters: heat on gas stove, chemical sanitizers.
• Lighting: flashlights with extra batteries, crank flashlights.
  

Follow the same procedure for gas equipment. Equipment may include cooking equipment and water heaters. Plans could include using electrical equipment, switching to a cold menu, alternative methods for heating water, and/or chemical sanitizers.

Also plan what to do if you lose both electricity and gas!

What other items do you have in your plans?

Emergency Preparedness: Plan Development

In developing an emergency preparedness plan for dining services, one of the most important steps is to determine what the facility plan is and how dining services fits into it. And an important step in developing a facility plan is determining how it fits into the community plan.

For example, will the facility assist by providing meals to emergency workers in the community? Will families of staff members be allowed to stay at the facility during some disasters? If so, the dining services plan must include how to feed them. Is dining services responsible for ordering all water for consumption and use, or only the water that the department will use? There is not any right or wrong answers to these situations. The dining services manager just needs to know what is expected.

The department plan must:

• Include the staff’s role within the department.
• Include the department’s role within the facility.
• Be clear and easy to read and understand.
• Easily located by staff.
• Include staff information contact information.
• Include vendor contact information.
• Include contracts with vendors (water, food, supplies, equipment).
• Include contracts with other facilities and establishments.

What is your facility and department expected to do in an emergency?

Emergency Preparedness: Scope and Length of Emergency

When planning for emergencies, it is important to consider both the scope and the length of the emergency.

The scope relates to how wide-spread the emergency is. If it is only your facility that has loss power, for example, there are many nearby resources that you can call upon. If you have contracts developed in advance, you could call local grocery stores, schools, banquet halls, and even other facilities to see if they could store some of your food for you.

If the scope is wider and includes your community or city, then these resources will be in the same situation as you. You would need to reach out further for assistance. If the scope is county or state wide, you may not be able to receive assistance. So what are your plans if you can get help and what are your plans if you cannot?

The other major consideration is the length of the emergency. We can survive anything for a couple of days! But what happens if the length of the emergency stretches beyond that? What are your plans if you do not have electricity for a week or longer? What are your plans if you do not have a kitchen for a month? Short-term and long-term plans differ.

In developing emergency plans, consider both the scope and the length of the emergency.

Are there plans that you have that you would like to share?

Emergency Preparedness: Disasters and Emergencies

The terms disasters and emergencies are often used interchangeably. For the purposes of this month’s topic, however, we will define them separately.

Disasters can be natural disasters such as earthquakes, extreme heat, floods, hurricanes, landslides, thunderstorms, tornadoes, wild land fires, wind, and winter storms including blizzards, ice storms, and severe cold. Other external disasters include accidents, fires, explosions, pandemics, riots, and terrorist attacks. Internal disasters include bomb threats, explosions, fires, hazardous spills, strikes, and workplace violence.

These disasters can cause emergencies for us because they affect how we operate our business. Many of the above disasters could cause one or more of the following emergencies: loss of electricity, gas, water, phone, computer access, Internet access, shortage of staff, late or no deliveries, and even loss of kitchen or serving areas. Disasters can also create evacuations, either of our residents to another location or another facility’s residents evacuating into our facility.

This month we will discuss items to consider in how to plan for these potential emergencies.

Are there additional disasters or emergencies that you face?