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After the Fire by Susan Mailheau, DVM; SKCVMA Disaster Preparedness chair
In preparing for disaster, the first firewall is overcoming the attitude “it won’t happen to me”. It does. And a dramatic, recent example was written up in Veterinary Economics September 2008, “Trial by fire: coping with disaster.” < Trial by Fire from DVM360 >
As Disaster Preparedness Chair, I chose this example to spotlight our September 20th workshop: Preparing Your Practice for Disasters. At this workshop, Dr. David Gill of ACCES presented an excellent presentation on preparing yourselves and preparing your clients. Then Michael Carter, a business continuity consultant, gave tips and advice.
To quote our committee’s member John Traylor, “Overall it was a great information passing, brainstorming discussion. It generated a lot of ideas and, though lightly attended, I think they got a lot out of it.”
Attendance was light. Are we preaching to the choir, or do we still need to break-down that firewall? Look up the article mentioned, then read the words of retrospect below sent by hospital’s manager. Think about it, then decide and let us know how we may best assist.
One year, five months, and sixteen days ago, the practice that I manage was engulfed and destroyed by fire. I have been asked to tell you where we are one year later, and what, in retrospect, have we learned. We have learned that nothing is impossible. That by putting one foot in front of the other each and every day, we can get where we are going; that when we join together, we are stronger and smarter than we could ever be on our own.
On March 23, 2009, one year to the day, of that horrible night, we unlocked the doors to our new building and invited in our clients. And, unless you knew, it was just like any other day. There are many things that we all wish would could change about the event, but none of it could have been avoided or made any easier.
Thankfully, more than by luck than by preparation:
• We had good insurance coverage
• A recent business and building appraisal
• We had colleagues that stepped forward and offered a hand
• A place to see our patients while we rebuilt.
• We have a clientele that supported us, and travelled the extra few miles to see us in our temporary location.
Things that we have changed however;
• We no longer rely on individuals to take computer backups off the premises; we now have our backups done remotely, every night while we are closed.
• All of our hospital records are done electronically making us a very “paper-lite” hospital, and also avoiding the possibility of losing all of our patient records, as we did during the fire.
• All radiographs are digital and archived.
Be prepared in any disaster, that there may be many team members who cannot handle the stress that comes in the immediate days and weeks after the fire.
• Offer all employees counseling, either on their own, or as a group.
o I had a local organization known as T.I.P. (Trauma Intervention Program) on site for 2 days following the fire, to help clients and staff.
• Several team members suffered from post traumatic stress, and sought help through other avenues.
As you work your way through the daily trials of overcoming a devastating event, keep your team involved and apprised of where you are in the process.
• In the beginning, we had weekly dinners, to answer questions. It remained our goal to keep the fabric of our team whole, because as they continued to see and take care of patients at the temporary facility, Dr.Dolginoff and myself were taking care of fire investigators, insurance questions, and public adjusters. It gave us time to “regroup”.
• As the process progressed, dinners became monthly, and sometimes 15 minute “speed meetings” helped to keep communication open.
• Our team felt a sense of involvement and ownership when they were given a packet, which took them through our hospital room-by-room, and asked for their opinion or ideas on what they really liked about the old facility, and what they would like to see improved in our new facility.
• As the new building came to fruition, we took frequent “field trips” with the team, and toured the hospital. Explaining to them what, together, we were all accomplishing.
This journey has been one that neither I nor Dr. Dolginoff did alone, but was done with our team, colleagues, and community, right beside us. Once again, we have a place of our own to call home, a wonderful team, a dedicated clientele, and three new clinic cats!
Joanne Light, LVT
Practice Manager
Paradise Pet Hospital
Author:
Joanne Light, LVT
Practice Manager
Paradise Pet Hospital
1060 E. Flamingo Road
Las Vegas, NV 89119
702-734-1711
702-734-1959 fax
www.ParadisePetHospital.com
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