Background

Williamson Medical Center is a 140-bed community-owned hospital. Located in Franklin, Tennessee, the hospital has served the needs of Williamson County residents since 1957. Williamson Medical’s dedication to excellence has earned it full accreditation by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO). The hospital offers comprehensive inpatient and outpatient services, 24-hour emergency care, preventive health screenings, and wellness activities.

Opportunities

Given recent developments in terrorist activity and JCAHO’s emphasis on preparedness, executives at Williamson Medical recognized the need to train their staff to deal with biological, chemical, and nuclear threats. Because of escalating national security alerts, Williamson Medical needed a solution for quickly educating and preparing employees.

Educators at Williamson Medical Center identified three requirements for the training:

Credibility
The training had to come from a reliable source with expertise in the field of combating various types of terrorist threats, including weapons of mass destruction.

Time
Staff members had to be trained in the most efficient manner possible, learning how to both prevent and respond to attacks.

Costs
With budget constraints, Williamson Medical needed a cost-effective solution for training all of its 752 employees.

Approach

As a current user of the HealthStream Learning Center™, Williamson Medical chose HealthStream for a number of reasons:

• HealthStream’s anti-terrorism courses were developed by former members of the military’s elite Special Forces, law enforcement officers, and Federal Task Force experts.
• The courses were interactive and utilized scenario simulation tests. Not only would staff members gain a general awareness of terrorist threats, they would learn how to respond to local, regional, and national emergencies.
• The online format provided greater convenience to staff members at Williamson Medical, allowing them to quickly and easily access courses 24/7 from an location.
• The administrative features of the system streamlined the assignment, tracking, and reporting functions for instructors, which would help them in preparing documentation for satisfying JCAHO’s requirements for emergency management.
• Adding extra courses to their online training program was as easy as contacting their HealthStream representative. Training could begin instantly.

Outcomes

One month after assigning the anti-terrorism courses to staff members, Williamson Medical experienced a number of positive outcomes, including:

Best Practices

Williamson Medical developed several new policies and procedures to better prepare staff members for terrorist threats. These practices included:
Disaster callback system:
Utilizing communicator software, hospital employees can automatically be called and alerted of a disaster.

Incident training:
Fifty-five members of upper management completed a special program conducted by the Williamson County Emergency Management Agency.

Code Zebra:
Williamson Medical developed this special disaster plan as a cooperative effort between staff members, the onsite EMS team, local police and fire departments, and county and
state emergency management agencies.

“I thought the courses were clear and concise. Sometimes the simplest things can be overlooked. These courses drove that point home for me.”
-Med/Surg Nurse, Williamson Medical Center