Emergency Preparedness

The Virginia Community Healthcare Association’s EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ASSISTANCE COMPACT (EMAC)

Purpose

The Association’s statewide Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) has been developed to facilitate the systematic mobilization, deployment, organization, and management of resources to assist community health centers (CHCs) in case of emergency or disaster. The local jurisdictional first responder agencies, public health district, and/or local hospital may be the first tier in response to an emergency or disaster. However, no community has resources sufficient to cope with all emergencies or disasters. The second tier of emergency response may be a center-to-center special request for support.

This EMAC was created to assist Association members to more effectively and efficiently exchange supplies and equipment in response to disasters and emergencies. It involves participating Association members and select Association staff. Because of federal operational requirements, this exchange is neither simple, nor easily accomplished—but for good reason.

This EMAC also includes staffing and volunteers in centers and areas that are impacted by the emergency or disaster, by incorporating and adhering to the “Health Center Program Compliance Manual” (August 2018), especially Chapters 5, “Clinical Staffing”, Chapter 21, “Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) Deeming Requirements”, and Appendix A.

This EMAC provides a framework for the facilitation and granting of requests for assistance, for the resolution of issues, for the reimbursement of the cost of goods and services–including a goal of maintaining federal operational compliance, and for the evaluation of the process for future improvement. The program is supplemental to, and should not negatively affect local or existing agreements between members and other agencies.

Using the Association EMAC helps provide for the rapid activation and response of similar and scarce resources for all members to help one or more members whose local resources have been exhausted, thereby creating a statewide network of similar healthcare systems working together to assist each other in desperate times.