The document provides a fire evacuation plan for Niswonger Children's Hospital in Johnson City, TN. It outlines the crisis team members and their roles, including the CEO of Niswonger Children's Hospital, Medical Director, and Director of Marketing and Communications. It details the communication procedures and chain of command in the event of a fire, including notifying staff, patients, families, and media. It also lists the equipment, supplies, pre-gathered information, and alternate hospital locations that would be used to continue patient care during a fire evacuation.

1. Ballad Health and
Niswongers Children
Hospital
Fire Evacuation Plan
Created by: Caroline Baird
February 2019

2. Introduction
• A hospital must still continue to care for its patients, even
during a crisis event. As medical professionals, you swear a
Hippocratic Oath to “do no harm.” In the spirit of that, the
purpose of this crisis plan is to ensure that all Niswonger
Children's Hospital patients, staff and employees know what to
do and how to communicate effectively during a fire evacuation
event.

3. Acknowledgments
• Alan Levine, Executive Chairman, President and Chief
Executive Officer of Ballad Health
• Stan Hickson, President of Ballad Health’s southwest market,
with oversight of Niswonger Children’s Hospital
• Lisa Carter, CEO Niswonger Children’s Hospital
• Nathaniel Justice, MD, Medical Director of Hospital Medicine,
Niswongers Children's Hospital
• Lauri Kerns, Sr. Director, Marketing & Communications,
Washington County Market, Niswongers Children’s Hospital
• Employee

4. Rehearsal Dates
• The Ballad Health, Niswonger Children’s Hospital Crisis Plan
should be reviewed and practiced twice yearly by hospital staff
and administration. All new employees of Ballad Health must
review and sign the crisis plan as part of their training and
employment contract.
• Contract to be reviewed immediately upon hire by Ballad
Health (date will vary)
• Twice yearly, a mid-scale evacuation (no patient involvement)
must be practiced by all Niswonger staff and employees in
accordance with the outlined crisis plan.
• These rehearsals should be held in the month of October and
April. The date is at the discretion of hospital management.

5. Purpose and Objectives
• In the event of a fire emergency at the Niswonger Children’s Hospital, our goal is
to ensure the safety of our patients and employees. By following this plan, we
intend to keep panic and disorder under control and continue to provide the
highest quality of medical care during the crisis.
• To serve as a communications outline during the event of a fire evacuation
emergency
• To ensure that the safety of all patients and employees at our hospital the highest
priority.
• To have a well-trained staff and employees to prevent crises from happening in
the first place and will be able to act with reassurance when crises do happen.
• To communicate clear and accurate information via our spokesperson during a
crisis so that they can provide accurate information to the media and the public
• To act quickly and implement this crisis plan within minutes of a crisis occurring.

6. List of Key Publics
Ballad Health Administration - Enabling
Niswonger Hospital Administration - Enabling
Niswonger Staff & Employees - Functional
Niswonger Patients - Functional
Parents and Family of Patients - Functional
Tennessee Department of Health - Normative
Press/Media - Diffused

7. Notifying Publics
• In the event of a fire emergency Niswonger Children’s Hospital,
the CEO of Niswonger will be in charge of communicating with
her Leadership Team, which includes the Medical Director and
the Director of Marketing & Communications.
• Once the crisis has been accessed, the CEO of Niswonger will
communicate with President of Ballad Health’s Southwest
Market. The President of Ballad Health’s Southwest Market will
then contact the President of Ballad Health.
• The President of Ballad Health will be in charge of crafting a
response via a news release that will be delivered by the CEO of
Niswonger.

8. Notifying Publics
• Prior to releasing news to the public, the CEO of Niswonger will direct the
Medical Director to distribute the news to all hospital employees and staff.
• While this is happening, the Director of Marketing & Communications will then
deliver the press release to media outlets and Niswonger official social media
accounts.
• During this time, any and all emails, press releases and information that might be
released to the public must be pre-approved by the President of Ballad Health.
• A hotline will be set up for the public to assist with checking the status of family
members and loved ones.
• Both the President of Ballad Health’s Southwest Market and the CEO of
Niswonger will be on site once the crisis has resolved to hold a press conference
and conduct interviews.
• No employee or staff member of Niswonger Children's Hospital should speak
with or consent to an interview with the media regarding a crisis unless directed
by the President of Ballad health

9. Chain of Command

10. Crisis Team
Alan Levine, Executive Chairman, President and Chief Executive
Officer of Ballad Health
• Head of public relations for Ballad Health
• Spokesperson, will craft hospital’s official response
Stan Hickson, President of Ballad Health’s southwest market,
with oversight of Niswonger Children’s Hospital
• Spokesperson, in the event the President of Ballad Health
cannot
• Liaison between the President of Ballad Health and the CEO of
Niswonger

11. Crisis Team
Lisa Carter, CEO Niswonger Children’s Hospital
• Head of public relations for Niswonger Children’s Hospital
• Spokesperson, will be “on the ground” at hospital
• Work with the President of Ballad Health and the President of Ballad Health’s
Southwest Market to get the appropriate information to the Medical Director.
Nathaniel Justice, MD, Medical Director of Hospital Medicine, Niswongers
Children's Hospital
• Work with the CEO Niswonger to deliver accurate information to the President
of Ballad Health and the President of Ballad Health’s Southwest Market
• Contact emergency services immediately in the event of a crisis
• Provide medical care to injured patients/staff if needed
• Be in contact with Niswonger Children’s Hospital staff and employees
Lauri Kerns, Sr. Director, Marketing & Communications, Washington County
Market, Niswongers Children’s Hospital
• Contact members of the media and update official websites/social media
• Coordinate hotline team

12. List of Emergency Personnel
• Fire Department/EMS/Johnson City, TN: (423) 975-2840
• Police Department: 911
• Niswonger Children’s Hospital Security
• Washington County Sheriff’s Office: (423) 788-1414
• Washington County Emergency Communications:(423) 928-
9111

13. List of Key Media
• WJCW-AM (910)- Local radio station
• https://www.balladhealth.org/- Online website
• Ballad Health Facebook- online website
• WJHL- Local online/print news outlet
• Johnson City Press- Local online/print news outlet
• Hotline for Crisis Event at Niswonger Children’s Hospital

14. Spokespersons for Related Organizations
Dr. John Dreyzehner, Commissioner
• Tennessee Department of Health
• 425 5th Ave N #3
• Nashville, TN 37243
• (615) 741 9443
Scott Niswonger
• The Niswonger Foundation
• 16 Gilland Street, Tusculum College
• P.O. Box 5112
• Greeneville, TN 37743
• (423) 798 783

15. Crisis Communication Control Center
Woodridge Hospital (Ballad Health)
403 N State of Franklin Rd
Johnson City, TN 37604
(Location directly across the road from hospital,
does not have critical care unit)
• Patients that are stable and able to be moved
will be relocated here for care
• Available doctors, nurses and staff should
report here to help with the influx of patients
• The crisis hotline team will also be located
here. We will designate this area as an
informational point for families inquiring on
the status of their loved one
• All press conferences and media interviews
will be conducted here
Franklin Woods Community Hospital (Ballad)
300 MedTech Parkway
Johnson City, TN 37604
• Patients that require critical care will be
brought to this hospital
• Critical care staff should report to this location
to assist with influx of patients
• EMS and Ambulance drivers should be
dispatched to this location to assist with the
transporting of patients

16. Equipment and Supplies
• Copies of crisis plan so that everyone on the crisis team has one
• Contact lists and media directories for contacting key publics,
emergency responders, etc.
• Generators/ power packs
• Walkie-talkies for immediate communication between leadership
team members while in the hospital
• Bull horn/PA system for communicating with crowds
• Mobil medicine stations to evacuate patients
• Laptops for writing and sending emails
• Cell-phones for communication between everyone

17. Pre-Gathered Information
NEWS RELEASE (Fire Evacuation)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: __________
Contact: ___________________________________________________
Fire and evacuation at Niswonger Children’s Hospital
(JOHNSON CITY, T.N.) A fire occurred at the Niswonger Children’s Hospital on (date).
The fire was found by (who found the fire, ex: staff, patient) in the (name of room/location
of fire). (Describe what happened).
(Status of people involved, ex: injuries)
All patients and employees were evacuated safely and cared for by a trained crisis team to
ensure the highest level of care during the evacuation.
Ballad Health and Niswonger Children’s Hospital will be working together to have the
hospital repaired as soon as possible.
If you are concerned for a family member or loved one and unable to locate them, please
call the Crisis Hotline for assistance (NUMBER).
Further details will be provided on the Ballad Health website found at
https://www.balladhealth.org.

18. Key Messages
1. We apologize to all of our patients and employees for the event that took place in
our
hospital today.
2. Safety is the number one priority here at Ballad Health but we recognize that
accidents can occur.
3. We have trained our staff extensively to deal with this type of crisis and will do
everything we can to handle it properly.
4. We will provide updates as soon as we have them on the situation that occurred
in our
hospital today.
5. We would like to reassure all patients and employees that Ballad Health is
working
hard to get your hospital back up and running.

19. Website
(To be posted on the main page at:
https://www.balladhealth.org/)
There was a (fire evacuation) at the Niswonger Children’s
Hospital on (date). We are working to provide the public with
more information and we assure you that we are doing
everything we can to handle the situation. We have closed all
facilities until we can ensure everyone is safe. We will update the
public with more information as soon as we can. If you feel that a
loved one or family member may have been involved or harmed
in this (event), please contact our hotline (number).

20. Blogs and Social Media
• This is not something we would communicate through a blog or
social media. Due to the seriousness of a fire evacuation event,
we will only release information through the press and our
website.
• If needed, we will post that “Information can be found on our
website regarding the fire today.”

21. Trick Questions
• “Off the record, didn’t you know
this might happen?”
We are not to answer any questions
off the record
• “Does the hospital take any
responsibility for the fire?”
We would not take full
responsibility; a crisis is on the entire
organization not just one person
• “How could this fire have been
avoided?”
Some things are simply out of our
control and accidents happen. We
take safety precautions to negate
these incidents from happening.
Discuss these.
• “What if the fire had happened
during the middle of the night?
How many people would have
been killed?”
We will not speculate on causalities
or answer this question. In return we
will highlight the fact no one was
injured OR that the emergency
response teams did a good job of
preventing casualties

22. List of Prodromes
Fire:
Cafeteria or cooking fires/burning food
Malfunctioning equipment or outlets
Fire in the surrounding area
The smell/sight of smoke
Hot door or door handle leading into a room or closet in the hospital
Increase in inside temperature
Fire alarms or detectors go off

23. Other Related URLs
Hospital Emergency Response Checklist
• http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/14821
4/e95978.pdf?ua=1