ABSTRACT
The laboratory plays an integral part in providing quality, accurate, and reliable services to satisfy clinicians' needs, help improve patient outcomes, and safeguard public health. During a crisis and especially in a pandemic, laboratory may struggle to work on an existing continuity plan, potentially rendering it incapable of providing timely services. This possibility became a reality during the COVID-19 pandemic surge in the Spring of 2020 in New York City, and laboratory experienced a shortage of labor force, necessary tools, personal protective equipment, testing equipment, supplies, and an inability to store bodies in response to mass fatality. The importance of a laboratory response during a crisis, including effective preparation, and the necessity of having a continuity plan were refined. This chapter was developed based on lessons learned during COVID-19 pandemic at the SBH Health System, Bronx, New York, to provide guidelines to better manage a healthcare crisis, including the development of a more effective continuity plan to prevent disruption of laboratory services, enabling laboratory to continue providing accurate, reliable, and quality services to clinicians for timely decision-making in managing patient treatment and resultant fatality management. In addition, this chapter may help minimize and overcome the interruption in laboratory-continued operations if the crisis has already occurred, ensuring that rapid recovery is initiated, and laboratory operations can be resumed within an acceptable period of time to safeguard public health. © SBH Health System 2022.