Cal. HSC § 1568.044 — California Code / Code hsc / Division 2 / Chapter 3.01 / Article 1 / Section 1568.044
Section 1568.044
Status: in_force

(a) A facility shall have an emergency and disaster plan that shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:

(1) Evacuation procedures, including identification of an assembly point or points that shall be included in the facility sketch.

(2) Plans for the facility to be self-reliant for a period of not less than 72 hours immediately following any emergency or disaster, including, but not limited to, a short-term or long-term power failure. If the facility plans to shelter in place and one or more utilities, including water, sewer, gas, or electricity, is not available, the facility shall have a plan and supplies available to provide alternative resources during an outage.

(3) Transportation needs and evacuation procedures to ensure that the facility can communicate with emergency response personnel or can access the information necessary in order to check the emergency routes to be used at the time of an evacuation and relocation necessitated by a disaster. If the transportation plan includes the use of a vehicle owned or operated by the facility, the keys to the vehicle shall be available to staff on all shifts.

(4) A contact information list of all of the following:

(A) Emergency response personnel.

(B) The contact information for the regulating entity.

(C) Transportation providers.

(5) At least two appropriate shelter locations that can house or supervise, as applicable, individuals served by the facility during an evacuation. One of the locations shall be outside of the immediate area.

(6) The location of utility shutoff valves and instructions for use.

(7) Procedures that address, but are not limited to, all of the following:

(A) Provision of emergency power that could include identification of suppliers of backup generators. If a permanently installed generator is used, the plan shall include its location and a description of how it will be used. If a portable generator is used, the manufacturer’s operating instructions shall be followed.

(B) Responding to an individual’s needs if emergency call buttons are inoperable.

(C) The process for communicating with individuals served by the facility, families, and others, as appropriate, that might include landline telephones, cellular telephones, or walkie-talkies. A backup process shall also be established. Individuals served by the facility and their responsible parties shall be informed of the process for communicating during an emergency.

(D) Assistance with, and administration of, medications.

(E) Storage and preservation of medications, including the storage of medications that require refrigeration.

(F) The operation of assistive medical devices that need electric power for their operation, including, but not limited to, oxygen equipment and wheelchairs.

(G) A process for identifying individuals served by the facility who have special needs, and a plan for meeting those needs.

(H) Procedures for confirming the location of each individual served by the facility during an emergency response.

(b) If a facility employs staff, the facility shall provide training on the plan to each staff member upon hire and annually thereafter. The training shall include staff responsibilities during an emergency or disaster.

(c) A facility shall conduct a drill at least quarterly for each shift. The type of emergency covered in a drill shall vary from quarter to quarter, taking into account different emergency scenarios. An actual evacuation of individuals served by the facility is not required during a drill. While a facility may provide an opportunity for individuals served by the facility to participate in a drill, it shall not require that participation. Documentation of the drills shall include the date, the type of emergency covered by the drill, and, if applicable, the names of staff participating in the drill.

(d) A facility shall review the plan annually and make updates as necessary, including changes in floor plans and the population served. The licensee, administrator, or regulated individual shall sign and date the documentation to indicate that the plan has been reviewed and updated as necessary.

(e) A facility shall have all of the following information readily available during an emergency:

(1) A roster of individuals served by the facility, with the date of birth for each individual.

(2) An appraisal of needs and services plan for each individual served by the facility.

(3) A medication list for individuals served by the facility with centrally stored medications.

(4) Contact information for the responsible party and physician for each individual served by the facility.

(f) A facility shall have both of the following in place:

(1) An evacuation chair at each stairwell, on or before July 1, 2021.

(2) A set of keys available for use during an evacuation that provides access to all of the following:

(A) All occupied resident units, if applicable.

(B) All facility vehicles.

(C) All facility exit doors.

(D) All facility cabinets and cupboards or files that contain elements of the emergency and disaster plan, including, but not limited to, food supplies and protective shelter supplies.

(g) A facility shall make the plan available upon request to individuals served by the facility onsite, any responsible party for a resident, the local long-term care ombudsman, and local emergency responders. Individual and employee information shall be kept confidential.

(h) An applicant seeking a license or approval for a new facility shall submit the emergency and disaster plan with the initial license application required.

(i) The regulating entity shall confirm, during regularly scheduled visits, that the emergency and disaster plan is on file at the facility and includes required content.

(j) A facility is encouraged to have the emergency and disaster plan reviewed by local emergency authorities.

(k) Nothing in this section shall create a new or additional requirement for the regulating entity to evaluate the emergency and disaster plan.

(l) For the purposes of this section, a “facility” means a residential care facility licensed pursuant to this chapter.