Q: What documentation should we maintain to prove that staff have been trained and that our emergency preparedness plan has been tested?
A:
Facilities should be able to demonstrate that staff understand their roles and that the plan works in practice. Instead of merely proving a drill occurred, documentation should illustrate that the facility identified whether staff and systems were effective, addressed deficiencies, and improved the emergency preparedness program as a result. EPP training and testing should be managed as an ongoing compliance and quality improvement program, not only the collection and retention of certificates and drill attendance records. Still, maintaining organized documentation is important, including, but not limited to:
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- Initial and annual emergency preparedness training
- Training rosters, dates, topics, and materials
- Role-specific staff competency or knowledge assessments
- Tabletop and full-scale exercise records
- Unannounced drill documentation
- After-action reports identifying strengths and opportunities for improvement
- Corrective action plans and evidence that identified issues were resolved
- Retesting or follow-up documentation when appropriate
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Written By:
Eleisha Wilkes, RN, GERO-BC, RAC-CT, DNS-CT
Senior Consultant
Proactive LTC Consulting
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