Journal Article

Something in the Water: Hospital Responds to Water Crisis

Daniels, Rebecca, Redfern, Roberta, Childers, Sue, Micham, Jennifer

2018

Overview

Early on August 2, 2014, in the city of Toledo, Ohio, a media alert informed the public that traces of microcystin, a hazardous toxin, had been detected in the drinking water. The warning stated that residents should not drink, boil, or even touch the contaminated water. A water crisis of this magnitude was recognized to pose a potentially serious and significant impact on patient care and safety in health care environments. ProMedica Toledo Hospital’s Emergency Operation Plan addressed 3 critical issues: safe water availability, alternate cleaning solutions, and preparations for a prolonged crisis. This report details some of the lessons learned throughout the response to the crisis: particularly, because the impact was county-wide which affected other hospitals who used the same vendors, alternate water sources should have been secured in advance; the courier service was vital to delivery of supplies and moving equipment to alternate areas for sterilization processes; and finally, communication with staff and patients was jeopardized by external media outlets. Changes to the emergency plan considering these unanticipated aspects proved useful in a later incident and should be considered by all health care facilities as water emergency policies and procedures are created and reviewed. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2018;12:666–668)

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Subject: Bottled water / Chemical contaminants / Communication / Crises / Cyanobacteria / Disaster Planning - methods / Disaster Planning - standards / Disasters / Drinking water / Drinking Water - analysis / Drinking Water - chemistry / Emergency medical care / Health care / Health facilities / Hemodialysis / Hospitals / Humans / Microcystins / Microcystins - adverse effects / Microcystins - poisoning / Ohio / Patient safety / Public health / Public Health - methods / Public Health - standards / Report from the Field / Social networks / Sterilization / Surveys and Questionnaires / Toxins / Water availability / Water crises / Water pollution / Water quality / Water shortages / Water supply / Water Supply - standards