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Health Care Sector
Health care practitioners, emergency medical personnel and nursing staff require access to reliable communications during emergencies. The reliance of hospitals and other healthcare facilities on the communications infrastructure to deliver quality health care and disseminate information during emergencies underscores the critical importance of having robust, redundant, and interoperable communications systems in place.
A Primary goal of the Bureau is to support and advance initiatives that enhance emergency communications capabilities, including those of health care providers. We therefore are pursuing policies and initiatives that will help ensure that the nation's communications infrastructure is reliable in times of crisis. We also provide information and guidance to health care providers to assist them with the development of emergency communications plans. In addition, we seek to increase awareness within the heath care sector about the benefits of enrollment of critical communications circuits in the three federal priority services programs described below.
Bureau Contacts for Health Care Providers
| Type of Contact | Primary | Secondary |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency Assistance |
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| Technical Advice |
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| Outreach |
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Priority Services
PSHSB will assist health care providers with enrollment of critical communications circuits in the Telecommunications Service Priority (TSP) program, which provides for priority provisioning and restoration of National Security and Emergency Preparedness services. The Bureau will also assist PSAPs with requests for Wireless Priority Service (WPS) and Government Emergency Telecommunications Service (GETS). These programs focus on the operability of emergency communications in times of crises.
Emergency Planning
Health Care Provider Guidelines for Emergency Planning. The purpose of the Emergency Planning Guidelines is to provide a framework for emergency preparedness for organizations to use to build their emergency communications plans. The FCC encourages the use of these emergency communications best practices by health care providers to improve their emergency communications systems and address unique regulatory or operational requirements which may exist within their organizations. Our guidelines were developed following a thorough review of existing emergency preparedness guidance put forth by several industry groups that developed best practices guidelines.
Pandemics
The Federal Government estimates that as much as 40 percent of the Nation's workforce, including personnel supporting critical communications infrastructure, will be absent during the height of a pandemic. Learn More >>