Emergency plan rules in Texas

A written emergency preparedness and response plan, with a CURRENT PRINTED COPY kept in a central location accessible to all staff — not only a file on a server that goes down with the power. The plan must be evaluated within 30 DAYS AFTER an emergency, after remodelling or additions, and at least annually; and revised within 30 DAYS after any information in it changes. Both clocks run from the event, not from the annual review date.

A Texas HCSSA plan must name — by title — an employee and at least one alternate as the agency's disaster coordinator; include a continuity of operations business plan; state how the agency will monitor disaster-related news and information; set procedures for releasing client information during a disaster; and describe staff actions and responsibilities in each of the four phases: mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery.

An emergency evacuation and relocation DIAGRAM; staff responsibility in sheltering and lock-down emergencies for the orderly movement of children to designated locations; the NAME AND ADDRESS of alternate shelters; how children will be accounted for at safe areas or alternate shelters; how staff will communicate with local authorities, parents and regulators; and how staff will evacuate WITH essential documentation — parent and emergency contact telephone numbers and the authorisation for emergency care for each child. The records travel with the children, which is the part most plans omit.

The written plan must be based on a risk assessment identifying the disasters, natural and man-made, that are likely to occur in this facility's service area. Texas will not accept a generic hazard list — the assessment is the foundation the rest of the plan is judged against.