Emergency Obstetric Services is one of the most critical clinical functions within KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH). The service provides immediate assessment, diagnosis, stabilisation, and treatment for pregnant women experiencing obstetric emergencies that may threaten the life of the mother, the fetus, or both.
Typical emergencies include severe antepartum haemorrhage, eclampsia, uterine rupture, obstructed labour, cord prolapse, fetal distress, maternal sepsis, and obstetric trauma.
From a Business Continuity Management (BCM) perspective, Emergency Obstetric Services should not be viewed as a single activity but as a collection of interconnected operational processes that collectively enable timely and safe emergency care.
Each process depends on specialist personnel, clinical facilities, medical equipment, pharmaceuticals, diagnostic services, information systems, and external support services.
Identifying these Sub-Critical Business Functions (Sub-CBFs) provides a structured understanding of how Emergency Obstetric Services are delivered from patient arrival through emergency treatment, delivery, surgery, and post-stabilisation care.
This decomposition forms the foundation for Business Impact Analysis (BIA), dependency mapping, risk assessment, continuity strategy development, and operational resilience planning.
Table D1: Sub-Critical Business Functions & Processes for CBF-1
|
Sub-CBF Code |
Sub-Critical Business Function |
Description of Process / Activity |
Example (KKH Context) |
|
CBF-1.1 |
Emergency Patient Arrival and Registration |
Receive emergency obstetric patients through ambulance services, emergency department referrals, walk-ins, or inter-hospital transfers. Capture essential patient information while prioritising urgent clinical intervention. |
A pregnant woman experiencing severe bleeding arrives by ambulance and is immediately registered using an emergency admission workflow. |
|
CBF-1.2 |
Obstetric Triage and Clinical Prioritisation |
Assess maternal and fetal condition to determine clinical urgency using established obstetric triage protocols. |
Midwives rapidly assess maternal vital signs and fetal heart rate before assigning the patient to immediate emergency treatment. |
|
CBF-1.3 |
Emergency Clinical Assessment |
Conduct comprehensive obstetric examination, review medical history, perform bedside investigations, and establish provisional diagnosis. |
An obstetrician confirms suspected placental abruption requiring immediate intervention. |
|
CBF-1.4 |
Diagnostic and Laboratory Support |
Perform urgent laboratory tests, blood grouping, imaging, fetal monitoring, and other diagnostic investigations supporting clinical decision-making. |
Blood tests, ultrasound imaging, and continuous cardiotocography (CTG) monitoring are performed before emergency surgery. |
|
CBF-1.5 |
Emergency Obstetric Decision-Making |
Determine the most appropriate emergency treatment pathway based on clinical findings and established obstetric protocols. |
The multidisciplinary team decides to perform an emergency Caesarean section due to fetal distress. |
|
CBF-1.6 |
Emergency Theatre Preparation |
Prepare operating theatre, surgical equipment, anaesthetic resources, blood products, and specialist teams for emergency obstetric procedures. |
Theatre staff activate the emergency obstetric operating theatre within minutes of surgical decision. |
|
CBF-1.7 |
Emergency Obstetric Surgery and Delivery |
Perform emergency Caesarean section or other life-saving obstetric procedures while ensuring maternal and neonatal safety. |
Surgeons conduct an emergency Caesarean delivery for severe fetal compromise. |
|
CBF-1.8 |
Anaesthesia and Perioperative Care |
Provide emergency anaesthetic assessment, administration, intraoperative monitoring, and immediate postoperative support. |
Anaesthetists administer general anaesthesia where urgent surgical intervention cannot be delayed. |
|
CBF-1.9 |
Neonatal Emergency Support |
Stabilise newborn infants requiring immediate neonatal resuscitation or transfer to specialist neonatal services. |
Neonatal specialists perform advanced resuscitation before transferring the infant to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). |
|
CBF-1.10 |
Maternal Critical Care and Stabilisation |
Manage maternal complications following delivery or surgery, including haemorrhage, sepsis, organ failure, and intensive monitoring. |
A patient experiencing postpartum haemorrhage receives blood transfusion and intensive monitoring in the High Dependency Unit (HDU). |
|
CBF-1.11 |
Blood Products and Medication Management |
Coordinate urgent access to blood components, emergency medications, and life-saving pharmaceuticals required during obstetric emergencies. |
Massive transfusion protocol is activated to support severe obstetric haemorrhage management. |
|
CBF-1.12 |
Clinical Communication and Care Coordination |
Coordinate communication among obstetricians, anaesthetists, neonatologists, nursing staff, laboratory services, blood bank, operating theatre, and support departments. |
A multidisciplinary emergency response team coordinates simultaneous preparation for surgery and neonatal care. |
|
CBF-1.13 |
Patient Monitoring and Ongoing Clinical Management |
Continuously monitor maternal and neonatal condition following emergency intervention and adjust treatment accordingly. |
Continuous observation identifies early signs of postoperative complications requiring further intervention. |
|
CBF-1.14 |
Patient Transfer and Continuity of Care |
Transfer patients safely to appropriate inpatient wards, HDU, ICU, NICU, or other specialist care units while maintaining continuity of treatment. |
Following stabilisation, mother and infant are transferred to specialised care units for ongoing management. |
|
CBF-1.15 |
Clinical Documentation and Regulatory Reporting |
Record all clinical interventions, treatment decisions, medication administration, outcomes, and mandatory regulatory documentation. |
Electronic medical records are updated to document emergency procedures, surgical outcomes, and medication administration. |
The identification of Sub-Critical Business Functions provides a comprehensive operational map of how Emergency Obstetric Services are delivered within KKH.
Rather than treating emergency obstetric care as a single service, the decomposition highlights the sequence of interdependent clinical and operational activities that collectively ensure safe, timely, and effective care for mothers and newborns.
This structured breakdown directly supports Business Impact Analysis (BIA) by enabling each Sub-CBF to be assessed individually for recovery priorities, maximum tolerable outage, Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs), Recovery Point Objectives (RPOs), and minimum resource requirements.
It also strengthens Risk Assessment (RA) by identifying process-specific vulnerabilities, dependencies, and potential failure points.
Furthermore, these Sub-CBFs provide the foundation for developing appropriate Business Continuity Strategies, detailed Business Continuity Plans (BCPs), and resilient operating models.
By understanding how each operational process contributes to the end-to-end delivery of Emergency Obstetric Services, KKH can better safeguard critical maternal and neonatal care during disruptive incidents while supporting compliance with healthcare governance requirements and broader operational resilience objectives.
| eBook 3: Starting Your BCM Implementation |
||||||
| MBCO | P&S | RAR T1 | RAR T2 | RAR T3 | BCS T1 | CBF |
| CBF-1 Emergency Obstetric Services | ||||||
| DP | BIAQ P1 | BIAQ P2 | BIAQ P3 | BIAQ P4 | BIAQ P5 | BIAQ P6 |
| BCS T2 | BCS T3 | PD | ||||
To learn more about the course and schedule, click the buttons below for the BCM-300 Business Continuity Management Implementer [BCM-3] and the BCM-5000 Business Continuity Management Expert Implementer [BCM-5].
|
Please feel free to send us a note if you have any questions. |
||