The recent tornadic activity across the United States is part of a growing trend of climate-related disasters that has more than doubled in 2021 over the previous year. According to the National Centers for Environmental Information, the U.S. broke the record at 18 climate disasters by October. These events have left many healthcare leaders looking for ways to strengthen their disaster preparedness plans. To learn more about best practices and the role technology plays in preparedness, we spoke with Edward Marx, the Chief Digital Officer at Tech Mahindra Health & Life Sciences.
Marx explained that digital tools play a critical role in enabling communication in today's disaster situations. "Communication and collaboration tools are foundational to enable any other kinds of automation and processes you may have built for emergency preparedness," said Marx.
He recommends health systems leverage two tools to enhance communication and improve disaster preparedness, including:
- High-grade emergency management software
- Enterprise communication & collaboration platform that is muti-modal
In addition to these tools, he shared that using a command center can be incredibly useful during an emergency. He also mentioned that having the technology is not enough.
"It is all about the human factor. I have led responses to ransomware, cyber-attacks, systems failures, and even an active shooter scenario in the last decade. While technology was always leveraged for recovery, having clear and practiced processes is what saved the day," said Marx. To learn more about preparedness and best practices, check out this resource from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
