Tintinalli Ch 6: Disaster Preparedness & Response Flashcards
World Health Organization’s definition of a disaster…
Sudden ecologic phenomenon of sufficient magnitude to require external assistance
A “hospital disaster” is…
an even that overwhelms the resources of the receiving hospital
Policies & procedures should be in place in case of disaster in order to…
1) Activate a disaster response
2) Direct the mobilization of personnel & equipment
3) Permit the rapid triage, assessment, stabilization, & definitive care of victims
Disasters can be broken down into the following categories:
1) Natural
2) Manmade
3) Terrorism
4) Internal
5) External
6) Acute
7) Non-acute
Natural disaster
Caused by a naturally occurring event such as weather, a pandemic, etc.
Manmade disaster
Non-natural events that are not purposefully produced such as car crashes, explosions, industrial accidents, etc
Terrorism-related disaster
Events that are purposefully produced in an effort to cause terror
Internal disaster
An event that occurs within the hospital
External disaster
An event that occurs external to the hospital
Acute disaster
Occurs in a narrow & well-defined time fram
Non-acute disaster
No well-defined start point or continuous production of casualties over a broad time frame
What is the ED surge like after an acute disaster?
1) Initial patients within minutes
2) Peak volumes 2-3 hours post-event
3) 80% of patients self-transport via some route
4) ED volume remains elevated for days
What is the ED surge like after a non-acute disaster?
1) ED volume has a slower onset of surge
2) ED & hospital volumes remain elevated for extended periods
General components of a hospital disaster plan
1) Hazard vulnerability analysis
2) Compliance with agency requirements
3) Hospital-community coordination
4) Integration with national response assets
5) Training & disaster drills
What is a hazard vulnerability analysis?
The hospital planning group addresses those disasters that are most likely to occur in their own community (i.e. earthquakes on the West coast, tornadoes in Arkansas, hurricanes on the Gulf coast)
