Compile key contact information

In an emergency, practice team members may need to be contacted urgently. This may be to advise them to not attend the practice due to an imminent threat, or to advise them that the practice requires extra support because of a recent emergency.

Keep a printed copy of your team member contact details in your emergency kit and with your Emergency Coordinator. Practice team members could also be provided with laminated, pocket-sized contact detail cards. Additionally, after securing consent, you may wish to organise for all team members to have their co-workers' contact details stored in their mobile phones.

If your practice is affected by an emergency, you may need to communicate with a range of service providers including:

• insurers,
• lawyers,
• IT specialists,
• building suppliers or maintenance,
• telephone and internet providers,
• other utility providers, and
• disaster recovery specialists.

To ensure that such communications can occur easily and quickly, create and maintain a list of service providers. Include helpful and relevant information such as:

• contact details in multiple formats (i.e., landline, mobile, email),
• any account or policy numbers and policy coverage information, if relevant, and
• business opening hours.

Create a contact list of all relevant local, state or territory and national response agencies. Your list may include the contact details of your PHN, Local Health District, local council and any local emergency services (i.e., police and fire services).

To assist in developing your contact list, you can visit the National Emergency Management Agency’s Respond webpage for state and territory emergency response. Select your location from the drop-down tool to see a list of services in your area.

You can also see ‘Accessing emergency warnings and incidents’ to find links to your local emergency service websites and apps.

In the event of an emergency, practice team members may need to communicate with other health services and organisations including local hospitals, nearby practices, primary care facilities, government health departments and, as mentioned earlier, PHNs.

Practice team members may need to access referral and discharge papers or seek assistance from other organisations due to capacity issues. To ensure that communications can occur quickly, create a list of nearby health services. Healthdirect Australia’s Service Finder tool can be used to help you to create your list.