Omnilert : Tell us about yourself. Christian: Most of my experience has been in the emergency arena. I’ve worked in level one trauma centers, as a paramedic, and firefighter / EMS. I have been with the Cambridge Health Alliance for about twelve years now. We are a complex system in that we are a quasi-public authority healthcare system. We are a 3 campus, 3 hospital system with about 30 ambulatory health centers in 5 communities in the metro-Boston area. Cambridge Health Alliance has the opportunity to work with different communities which can sometimes conflict with other communities we partner with. Each public safety agency has their own way of doing things so managing that and streamlining our operations to insure we have, and provide, consistency across the board can be challenging. Streamlining care, predominantly in an emergency situation is where the public expects us to be consistent from one facility to another. One of the best practices in the Boston area from an emergency preparedness standpoint is that, although the hospitals are very competitive, we all come together during times of emergencies or crises (we’ve been doing this for 25 to 30 years now). We are aligned and our emergency plans are similar so there is consistency for care when a disaster strikes. We have the opportunity to work with our local, state, and federal counterparts to ensure that we have a more cohesive plan and can respond much better together. I’d like to think what happened at the Boston Marathon showed that. I am the Director of Emergency Management and Health and Safety Officer. The role of the Safety Officer is to ensure workplace safety and ensure that we follow all the regulations pertaining to the environment of the buildings- making sure we are up to code so that we stay within the regulations from the state and federal government. From the emergency preparedness standpoint I manage the plans – not only within the Public Health and EMS community, but also within the hospital to ensure that we are providing care during evacuations, chemical, biological, and radiological events or mass casualty events in the community, etc. Omnilert: What is your favorite part about your job? Christian: I think the emergency management role is my favorite part. As the Safety Officer, though I have to serve as the rule enforcer so I don’t think people like that so much, […]
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