CHSCPR Portal

This portal was developed to provide access to several useful tools for members of the Chicago Healthcare System Coalition for Preparedness and Response.

The Capabilities Survey is the first step in developing a system level data collection assessment for purposes of identifying gaps in emergency preparedness.

The Comprehensive Hazard Vulnerability Analysis Tool is a web based application designed to help assess a facility’s vulnerability to various hazards. The CHVA tool walks the user through a series of questions that help the user to detail the likelihood that a given natural, technological, or anthropogenic event may occur at their facility and what their facility’s specific risks and levels of preparedness are for those events. CHVA reports are collected on a quarterly basis. After the first CHVA report is complete, future CHVA reports “start” with the previous quarter’s data, focusing the exercise on "what has changed" at the given facility.

Multi-user support allows users to initiate reports for their facility, coordinate with other facility users (optional), save their work, and return to update, review, and print their CHVA report as needed. The report generation process utilizes supplemental information and reference materials regarding the location and size of service area populations in order to consistently enhance the accuracy and utility of the CHVA report.

Emergency management is not something that can be done well without planning ahead. By conducting a hazard vulnerability analysis, a facility is better prepared to both predict and manage an emergency before it happens. By combining the expertise of multiple team members and evaluating every conceivable threat, an organization or facility can achieve a clear picture of the risks that threaten its operations and its state of preparedness for each event. By evaluating the threat assessment, organizations can apply additional resources or preparedness planning as required to minimize threats to the facility and institution.

The Comprehensive Hazard Vulnerability Analysis Tool was developed for the Chicago Department of Public Health, the Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council, and the Chicago Healthcare System Coalition for Preparedness and Response by Pangaea Information Technologies, Ltd. (http://www.pangaeatech.com) under the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Hospital Preparedness grant.

The creation of the Comprehensive Hazard Vulnerability Analysis Tool was a collaborative effort. Content was compiled and developed with guidance from subject matter experts from Rush University Medical Center; John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County; and Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Emergency management planning materials referenced for this effort include content from The Joint Commission's Comprehensive Accreditation Manual for Hospitals: The Official Handbook and Kaiser Permanente’s Hazard Vulnerability Analysis Tool. Supporting data was provided by Chicago Public Schools, Museums in the Park, ESRI and Google.