????半年前，在4月15日那天，在距離波士頓馬拉松賽終點線僅幾步之遙的地方，兩個簡易爆炸裝置在幾秒鐘內相繼爆炸，當場造成3人死亡。值得注意的是，在活著到達醫院的264名傷者中，沒有一個人死亡。

????應急準備圈已經從這一悲劇性事件中汲取了經驗教訓。商界領袖也可以從爆炸發生后不知疲倦地工作的醫護人員身上獲得一些啟示。但更為寶貴的教益，或許來自那些早在這場危機發生前就采取措施的有識之士。

????簡化組織

????醫院與公司并無多大不同：各種事件總是迅速且出人意料地發生。反應需要及時且果敢。你的組織能夠多么迅速地予以應對？誰有權做決定？誰做這些決定？誰在事后承擔責任？組織的指揮鏈清晰嗎？每位重要參與者是否扮演一個明確且可管理的角色？

????就復雜性而言，今天的醫療保健機構完全可以跟大型企業相媲美。醫療機構通常由住院和門診部門構成，其中或許包括多家醫院、診所和健康中心。醫生、護士、管理人員、技術支持人員、承包商、供應商、患者和家庭皆是“利益攸關方”。這些復雜的組織擁有矩陣式管控結構，其中往往包括為醫生、護士和管理人員設置的獨立“筒倉”。

????1970年9月，圣安娜風（Santa Ana Winds）引發的野火在加州四處蔓延，席卷400平方英里。數百家消防部門按照各自的章程和組織結構對抗這場大火，但由于隸屬于不同管轄區，這些消防部門深受協調和溝通不暢之苦。

????這場大火之后，七家加州消防部門開發了一套突發事件指揮系統（ICS）。它允許率先作出反應的部門在事發現場成立一個臨時領導機構，以鞏固和澄清指揮鏈，無縫協調來自多個機構或管轄區的救援人員。隨后的30年間，全美各地的大多數消防部門和醫療急救隊都完善、實施了ICS系統。1991年，奧蘭治縣緊急醫療服務隊和醫院一起開發了一套適合醫院實際情況的ICS系統，這套系統最終被命名為醫院事故指揮系統（HICS）。HICS系統建立了一個明確的指揮鏈、共同的術語、清晰的報告系統和角色職責，以及基于事件性質迅速擴大或收縮反應規模的能力。HICS系統并不是一種臨時性活動，它是相關部門堅定地致力于計劃、準備和培訓的結果。波士頓馬拉松爆炸事件發生的愛國者日，波士頓的每家醫院都啟動了HICS系統，一如它們在此前的真實事件和演習期間進行的操練。這套系統實實在在地發揮了作用。

????災害應變是一項團隊運動

????波士頓的成功醫療救助反應建立在精心發展的跨部門關系之上：大醫院創傷中心、醫療急救隊、消費部門、地方和州執法部門、公共醫療服務提供者、波士頓田徑協會（Boston Athletic Association），以及地方和州政府，以上僅僅是參與救援的一部分機構。

????Six months ago, on April 15, two improvised explosive devices went off within seconds of each other, just steps away from the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three people almost instantly. Remarkably, of the 264 injured people that reached the hospital alive, not a single one died.

????The emergency preparedness community has already been cultivating the lessons learned from that tragic event. Business leaders, too, can gain insight from the experiences of the health care professionals who worked tirelessly in the wake of the bombing. Even more valuable lessons can come from those who acted long before the crisis took place.

????Streamline your organization

????A hospital isn't so different from a corporate workplace: Incidents occur quickly and unexpectedly. Responses need to be immediate and decisive. How rapidly can your organization respond? Who has the authority to make decisions? Who makes these decisions and who is accountable for them in the aftermath? Is your organization's chain of command clear? Does every key player have a defined and manageable role?

????Today's health care organizations rival large businesses in complexity. They include inpatient and outpatient components that may comprise multiple hospitals, clinics, and health centers. The "stakeholders" are physicians, nurses, administrators, support personnel, contractors, vendors, patients, and families. These complex organizations have matrix-style management control structures that often include separate silos for physicians, nursing, and administrators.

????In September 1970, wildfires sparked by Santa Ana Winds spread across 400 square miles of California. Hundreds of firefighting agencies struggled with coordination and communication across various jurisdictions as they fought the fires with their own protocols and organizational structures.

????In the aftermath, seven California firefighting agencies developed the Incident Command System (ICS), which allows first responders to establish a temporary leadership structure at the scene that consolidates and clarifies lines of command and seamlessly incorporates responders from multiple agencies or jurisdictions. Over the next 30 years, ICS was refined and implemented by most fire agencies and medical first responder agencies across the country. In 1991, The Orange County Emergency Medical Services and Hospital worked together to develop a hospital adaptation of ICS ultimately named HICS (Hospital Incident Command System). HICS establishes a clear chain of command, common nomenclature, clear reporting and clarity of roles, and the ability to quickly expand or contract a response based on the nature of the incident. HICS is not an ad hoc activity. It's the result of a determined commitment to plan, prepare, and train. On Patriot's Day, the day of the Boston Marathon bombing, every hospital in Boston utilized HICS, just as they had drilled during prior real-life events and exercises. And it worked.

????Disaster response is a team sport

????The successful medical response in Boston was predicated on well-developed relationships across disciplines: major hospital trauma centers, emergency medical services, fire services, local and state law enforcement, public health providers, the Boston Athletic Association, and local and state government, to name just a few.