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September is Disaster Preparedness Month

American Academy of Disaster MedicineSeptember is National Disaster Preparedness Month, and the American Academy of Disaster Medicine® (AADM®) recommends that all households maintain an up-to-date emergency plan. The plan should address preparations for the natural disasters that are most likely to occur in your geographic regions—for example, hurricanes in Florida, earthquakes and wildfires in California. But your plan also should account for potential man-made disasters that can happen anywhere, like chemical spills or factory explosions.

To help you get prepared during Disaster Preparedness Month, the AADM offers the following emergency planning tips:

  • Consider the different safety needs for every kind of potential emergency.
  • Locate the nearest disaster emergency centers or shelters in your community.
  • Map out an evacuation route.
  • Post emergency phone numbers near telephones or program them into your cell phone and keep it handy at all times.
  • Prepare a list of family physicians in the event that you or a family member is injured.
  • Store all necessary emergency items in easily accessible places, like backpacks or duffel bags.
  • Stock up on emergency items such as prescription medicine, eye glasses, drinking water, non-perishable food, a manual can opener, personal hygiene items, extra sets of clothes, and rain gear.
  • Select a location near your home as a meeting place, and another place to meet outside your neighborhood in case you and your family members can’t return home after a disaster.

How Physicians Can Protect Their Practice

As a practicing physician, it is essential that you perform an analysis to determine your preparedness for any kind of emergency. To ensure that your office is fully prepared, write a list of potential disasters in your area, and develop a response plan for each. Make a written emergency plan available to your staff so that everyone knows what’s expected of them during a disaster. To limit confusion, assign staff members with specific roles, and even backup roles.

In addition to safely storing business-critical materials, like computer hard drives or cash boxes, you should make arrangements to ensure you can safely access your data from a secondary location, in the event that your practice is compromised. Information you’ll want to have readily available include:

  • Updated patient records
  • Accounting records
  • Vendor contact information
  • An updated inventory of your office materials and equipment

Finally, be sure to have your office phone number auto-forwarded to a message that lets callers know the latest information about your practice.

Disaster Medicine Board Certification

American Board of Disaster MedicineThe American Board of Physician Specialties® (ABPS) is the only multi-specialty physician certification body to offer disaster medicine certification and recertification through its Member Board, the American Board of Disaster Medicine® (ABODM®). Our commitment to helping physicians prepare themselves in case of earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, pandemic outbreaks, terrorist attacks, and other natural and manmade disasters led to the creation of the AADM.

For information about disaster medicine certification through the ABODM, contact the ABPS today.

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Patient Care Is Our Priority

Medical organizations throughout North America understand that our rigorous certification standards prove that ABPS Diplomates are capable of delivering the best patient care possible.

Far too often, medicine is led by less than 5% of non-practicing physicians taking away and replacing the voice of the 95% of physicians practicing and placing patient safety and care first on the front lines every day. The American Board of Physician Specialties has raised the standards in physician board certification not only in the quality of their boards of certification, but in hearing and allowing for the voice of those active physicians caring directly for patients. Having been a part of the ABPS over the last 28 years has allowed me to grow as a woman leader in a field often wrought with challenges. It helped me and others raise the bar of the standards of care in my specialty, Emergency Medicine, through their Board Certification in Emergency Medicine (BCEM). ABPS also helped raise the standards of care for 21st century medicine through their certifications in other specialties, particularly in Integrative Medicine & Disaster Medicine. Having physician voices heard matters to medicine and is essential in the betterment of patient safety and care.

Sarah E. Gilbert, MD, FAAEP
Sarah E. Gilbert, MD, FAAEP
Emergency Medicine
On October 18, 2007, President George W. Bush released Homeland Security Presidential Directive 21 (HSPD-21), calling on our nation, among other initiatives, to “collectively support and facilitate the establishment of a discipline of disaster health”. It is a great testament to the wisdom and foresight of the American Board of Physician Specialties that it immediately set to work and created, within the short span of only one year, an educational blueprint and set of certification examinations, both written and oral, for a new subspecialty of disaster medicine—and it is why I chose to be part this vital initiative and this wonderful organization. This is but one of the many innovative programs initiated by the American Board of Physician Specialties over the years, and why I am proud to support its work on behalf of our nation’s public health.

Art Cooper, MD
Disaster Medicine
When the American Board of Physician Specialties offered to host the American Board of Integrative Medicine, ABPS became a landmark organization working to move medicine into the twenty first century. Certifying physicians who have completed rigorous academic training in Integrative Medicine ensures that the field of Integrative Medicine will continue to develop academically, clinically, and professionally. The leadership of ABPS continues to impress me - they are diligent in constantly innovating to provide certifications for physicians who want to advance their careers and their areas of expertise. I am honored to be a part of this organization.

Ann Marie Chiasson, MD
Integrative Medicine
There are many ways board certification advances a physician career. ABPS Board examination verifies your accuracy, precision, and reflects your mastery of your residency training verifying your expertise. ABPS Board certification demonstrates your level of expertise beyond your practice experience, primary education degrees, and training which are necessary for insurance reimbursement and practice privilege requirements. Attaining your ABPS Board Certification will clarify your purpose, secure your practice growth, and expand into leadership positions. Board certification can serve as an indication of a physician’s commitment to medicine, beyond the minimal standards and competency of training, their measurement to quality of care, and attaining an award for excellence.

Chris Kunis MD
Internal Medicine
When I think historically, advancement in medicine and patient safety and care has been driven by the diversity of people and scientific thought. That’s what I found at the ABPS and more. For over 60 years that is just who we are. I found a physician certifying body that provides a choice and voice to all physicians ensuring that patients are always placed first.

Jerry Allison, MD
Emergency Medicine
When I decided to pursue a full time role as a physician executive it was important to me to obtain additional professional training, education and work experience. Board certification through the ABPS in Administrative Medicine is validation of my efforts and a demonstration of dedication to professional development. We need more physicians to become full time health care executives, knowing there is a board certification option in Administrative Medicine encourages physicians to take the leap from full time clinical practice to healthcare organizational leadership.

Richard Paula, MD
Administrative Medicine
The American Board of Physician Specialties has provided me with the opportunity to demonstrate mastery of internal medicine through board certification. As a hospitalist, board certification is an expected credential, and hospitals recognize the American Board of Physician Specialties (ABPS) as one of the three standard credentialling bodies for Internal Medicine. Additionally, the ABPS has helped me develop leadership skills as a Board member and Committee Chairperson. ABPS has also helped me sharpen critical thinking skills as a test question developer and reviewer. The Allopathic (MD) and Osteopathic (DO) physicians in the ABPS are lifelong learners and frequently pursue multiple board certifications. I enjoy the camaraderie of my peers in ABPS.

Loren Jay Chassels, DO
Internal Medicine
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