Get ready and prepare

Disasters and emergencies are increasing in prevalence and impact, and the North Brisbane and Moreton Bay region has a relatively high level of exposure to extreme weather events. 

Our region can experience a range of natural disasters including floods, storms, bushfires and pandemics. These emergencies can pose a risk to business continuity in primary care. It is a requirement of the RACGP Standards of General Practice that practices prepare and maintain an emergency response plan (ERP).

Top 7 tips to be better prepared for an emergency

• Develop and maintain an up-to-date emergency response and business continuity plan.
• Exercise and review your plan on a regular basis.
• Contact other practices in your local area and agree on how you might be able to offer mutual support during an event (i.e continuing cold chain for vaccines and medications).
• Have a plan in place to send communications to patients about service disruptions or changes.
  • Eg: updating Health Direct Service Finder, online booking systems, practice website, social media, signage at the practice, answering services and auto-reply email responses.
• Have a system in place to routinely capture and check patient’s current contact details.
• Review the practice's cold chain procedures to ensure there is a backup plan for short term and extended power outage.
• Ensure patients with a My Health Record have current information records and an up-to-date shared health summary where appropriate.
• Take steps to encourage patients to have a face-to-face appointment to ensure continued telehealth eligibility.

The Disaster Preparedness Checklist can help practices prepare for emergencies and support business continuity by considering, developing, and regularly reviewing an emergency response plan.

The RACGP provides disaster preparedness information via their website.

Keep up to date with relevant alerts and warnings

In addition to the Queensland Government disaster management website, Moreton Bay, Brisbane City and Somerset Regional Councils all have free SMS, email and voice alerting systems. They provide severe weather warnings, bushfire warning messages, council-prescribed burn notifications, potential flash flooding incidents and planned dam releases within our region. Messages include basic information about the type of emergency, the level of threat and recommended action to take. Subscribe to alerts and warnings by visiting your local council websites.