Preparedness & Operational Activities

Always On: 24/7 Support for Healthcare Emergencies and System Coordination

Activation

Our Healthcare Emergency Coordination Center (HECC) is currently activated for the Flooding Response within Washington State and we are coordinating with healthcare on a regular basis.

Please call our Duty Officer if there’s any need for support at 425-988-2897 or HECC@nwhrn.org.

FLOOD RESPONSE RESOURCES:

Washington State Governor, Bob Ferguson, declared a statewide emergency on December 10, 2025; details available HERE.

NWHRN Flash Report on 2025-12-11
NWHRN Snapshot on 2025-12-12

The Network has lead readiness and response strategies with statewide partners, engaging directly to address crises including measles outbreak, wildfire and smoke threats, flooding and tsunami readiness, civil unrest and large event/gathering readiness, cyber security threats, and impacts of extreme weather and power outages, among others.

Clinical Activations

IV Solution Shortage
Measles
Varicella/chicken pox

Weather Activations

Extreme Heat
Flooding
Storm Damage
Tsunami Readiness
Wildfire Smoke
Winter Weather

Mass Gathering Activations

Event Readiness
Active Attacks
Civil Unrest

Infrastructure Activations

Cyber Security
Montesano Evacuation
CrowdStrike
Electrical power outages
Transportation/Road closures

Since 2020, the Network has responded to over 70 activations supporting access to care for communities across the state.

Preparedness

The Network collaborates with local response partners to prepare for extreme weather and environmental events. State and regional responses to these events continue to prove that organizations are most resilient and effective when partners are pro-active in their planning efforts, share and learn from each other, and most importantly, work together.

Below, you will find links to information to help you prepare, get and stay informed.

Extreme Heat Tip Sheet
Extreme Heat Toolkit and Comparison of Heat Stroke vs Heat Exhaustion
Resources for Long Term Care Partners
Wildfire Smoke Tip Sheet
September National Preparedness Month 30-Days of Preparedness

HECC Contact Information Sheet
Resource Requests
Other NWHRN Tip Sheets, Resources and Links can be found here.
Sept 14 2022 Montesano Fire Evacuation Response Presentation info can be found here

NWHRN Activation Levels

Level 3 - Not Activated (Daily Operations)

No anticipated or presently occuring incident or event requiring HECC activation.

Actions:

The Healthcare Emergency Coordination Center (HECC) is not activated but the NWHRN Duty Officer, on-call Incident Commander and Response Operations team members respond to the needs of the healthcare community by issuing advisories, coordinating event specific meetings, disseminating situational awareness information and handling oneoff resource or other requests from healthcare partners. Incident command structure roles are not typically activated or filled when responding to non-expanding small scale events or incidents.

Monitor for events or escalating incidents with the potential to impact the healthcare system.

The NWHRN Duty Officer remains available 24/7 monitoring situational awareness resources during normal business

Examples:

Known special events or anticipated weather with potential to impact healthcare or healthcare delivery in a localized region. Small or facility specific non-complex incidents not requiring significant coordination, outreach or resources.

Level 2 - Partial Activation

A event is occuring or anticipated requiring activation of the Healthcare Emergency Coordination Center (HECC) by staffing two or more response roles but no more than two sections and any necessary support roles of the NWHRN Incident Command structure.

Actions:

Activate the HECC and notify NWHRN Staff.
Activate the NWHRN Emergency Response Plan.
Assign Incident Command roles to NWHRN Staff as needed in anticipation of response needs.
Coordinate response with local agencies and partners as needed.
Monitor situational awareness and disseminate information as needed to affected healthcare agencies and facilities.
Activate appropriate annexes if needed.

Examples:

Large scale special events with anticipated impacts, weather events with ongoing or anticipated impacts, wide spread infrastructure failures, cyber incidents with broad impacts to healthcare, incidents or events requiring patient tracking or other integrated response support.

Level 1 - Full Activation

An event is occuring or anticipated requiring activation of the Healthcare Emergency Coordination Center (HECC) by activating more than two sections and at least one respective support role for each of the NWHRN incident command structure.

Actions:

Activate the HECC and notify NWHRN Staff. Activate the NWHRN Emergency Response Plan. Assign roles to NWHRN Staff as needed in anticipation of response needs. Assess situation prioritize response needs. Coordinate response with local and or regional agencies and partners. Monitor situational awareness and disseminate information as needed to affected healthcare agencies and facilities. Activate appropriate annexes if needed. Activate appropriate mutual aid plans, MOU’s or agreements. Scale operational roles as needed to meet response needs.

Examples:

Large scale or multiple facility evacuation, earthquake, terrorist attack, environmental disaster, large scale MCI, regional or national disease outbreak or official disaster declaration affecting healthcare.