"Be prepared."

Sound familiar? The Boy Scout motto could just as well be the tag line for this new ABA website. While horrific events of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina resonate in our memories, they are not isolated disasters.  On almost any given day a storm, flood, or fire rages out of control causing havoc in our communities.

And these events seem to be occurring with great frequency, and perhaps ferocity.  In 2008 the President declared 75 major disasters – significantly more than in any other year since 1996. And the constant threat of a pandemic or man made disaster only serves to heighten our anxieties.

We are living in a code orange world. The best antidote --  be prepared.

In 2005 the ABA established its Committee on Disaster Response and Preparedness.  

Requires data backup & recovery for electronic health information

§ 164.308 Administrative safeguards :  Sub-section (7)

(7)(i) Standard: Contingency plan. Establish policies and procedures for responding to an emergency or other occurrence (for example, fire, vandalism, system failure, and natural disaster) that damages systems that contain electronic protected health information.

(ii) Implementation specifications:

(A) Data backup plan (Required). Establish and implement procedures to create and maintain retrievable exact copies of electronic protected health information.

(B) Disaster recovery plan (Required). Establish (and implement as needed) procedures to restore any loss of data.