Date: Oct. 18, 2013
Staff Representative: Scott Fisher and Laura Biesiadecki
Member Representative: N/A

Highlights: The American Meteorological Society hosted a two-day workshop on building healthcare facility resilience to high-impact weather events and featured a number of presentations from hospital and healthcare facility representatives. The first day of the meeting primarily focused on the critical infrastructure components, including the physical healthcare facility structure and back-up generator power, and the costs and decision making around rebuilding these facilities and systems following a disaster. There seemed to be a disconnect between building overall community resilience and how the critical infrastructure of any one facility could be strengthened. Also, as was the case at the ASTHO meeting mentioned previously, the issue of one jurisdiction incorporating the lessons learned from the disasters that have occurred elsewhere was evident. For example, some of the lessons learned, including elevating backup generators from the lower level of facilities and having stockpiles of supplies on every floor instead of one location in a facility, have been raised from previous emergencies dating many years back yet continue to be challenges.