Hospitals plan for the unthinkable

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded $5 million to Connecticut to improve hospital preparations for disease outbreaks, bio-terror attacks and natural disasters causing mass casualties.
The department awarded $430 million nationally, including $11 million to New York City, with the funds allocated under the federal Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness Act of 2006.
The money can be spent on making communications systems interoperable; creating systems to track available hospital beds; registering volunteer health professionals; creating hospital evacuation plans; and preparing for managing mass fatalities.