During a crisis, frontline workers can make significant contributions to keeping residents and colleagues safe. They can even save lives. As you’re putting together your emergency preparedness plans, training programs, and drills/tests, be sure to include frontline workers. Toward this end, remember:
- Checklists, policies/procedures, and disaster plans sit on the shelf. Even if they’re included in onboarding and inservices, they can be forgotten. Make disaster preparedness a living, breathing effort that includes drills, discussions, and role playing efforts.
- The buck has to stop with someone. The leader who has this role needs to have skills not only in emergency preparedness but also decision making, conflict resolution, listening, and empathy.
- Transparency is key. When you don’t communicate with frontline workers, they are left in the dark and feel disconnected. This also can contribute to distrust. It it important to let them know what is happening, how they can help, and how you are working to keep residents and staff alike safe.
