Week 13: Triage, Emergency Management, Disaster Management Flashcards
What 3 things can be done to increase situational awareness?
- Perceive critical elements in the environment
- Understand the significance of available information
- Project what could happen next
What color codes are used in disaster triage?
Red - immediate treatment
Yellow - delayed treatment
Green - minor treatment
Black - deceased
Gray - expectant
What criteria are used to sort patients quickly during a disaster?
RPM
Respirations, pulse & perfusion, mental status
What treatment interventions should be performed as you are triaging?
- Manually open the airway
- Clear the airway with a finger sweep
- Insert nasal airway
- Control major bleeding
- Elevate the legs to prevent worsening shock
How would you open the airway of a patient who is not traumatically injured? If they are traumatically injured?
Not traumatically injured —> head tilt chin lift
Traumatically injured —> jaw thrust
Which patients would be sorted as red?
Those with:
- Severe altered mental status
- Airway compromise
- Severe difficulty breathing
- Cardiovascular problems
- Hemorrhage
- Major trauma
- Major wounds
- All injured rescuers, responders, and emergency personnel
Which patients would be sorted yellow?
Patients with injuries requiring evaluation that are not immediately life-threatening such as:
- Extremity burns (without airway or reps compromise)
- Isolated extremity injuries
- Spinal injuries
- Awake and alert head injury patients
Requires basic life support, stretcher or significant assistance w/ movement
Which patients would be sorted as green?
Patients with non life-threatening injuries or medical conditions such as:
- Small wounds
- Small burns
- Small abrasions
- Psychiatric conditions exacerbated by the disaster (ex: anxiety)
Requires basic life support, but patients are ambulatory
Which patients would be classified as gray?
Patients who are mortally wounded and have non-survivable injuries (ex: 100% third degree burns)
What are the different triage systems that are available?
- START triage
- JUMP START (add parameters for pediatric population)
- SALT triage (similar to START except you sort individuals based on their ability to respond to you & their ability to walk)
How are patients transported to different triage zones based on their color?
Green - walk to green zone
Yellow - requires assistance of 1-2 individuals
Red - requires assistance of 2 individuals
Black - require a temporary morgue and are the last to be transported
How many times will triage be performed?
- On scene, in wreckage, on site
- At treatment area, collection area (ex: colored tarps)
- In an ambulance
- In the ED
What is another way that patients can be triaged?
1, Primary - immediate
- Secondary - delayed
- Tertiary - minor
- Quaternary - deceased
What is a critical incident stress debriefing (CISD)?
A formalized, structured method whereby a group of rescue and response workers reviews the stressful experience of a disaster
Designed to be delivered in a group format and meant to be incorporated into a larger, multicomponent crisis intervention system
What is a multi-casualty incident (MCI)?
Situation in which medical resources are strained but not overwhelmed
Which patients are treated first in MCIs?
Those with life-threatening problems and those sustaining multiple system injuries
What is a mass-casualty event (MCE)?
Situation in which casualty numbers are large enough to disrupt the healthcare services in the affected community or region
Which patients are treated first in an MCE?
Patients having the greatest chance of survival and requiring least expenditure or time, equipment, supplies, and personnel
What is the 1st and most effective intervention to reduce the impact of disasters?
Personal disaster preparedness
What are local governments responsible for in emergency management?
Emergency planning response and continued assessment of its ability to protect citizens and property within the community
What are State governments responsible for in emergency management?
- Assisting communities within the State by reviewing plans and providing guidance
- Makes plans and assesses its capability to provide protection from large-scale, statewide disasters
- Assist communities within the State that do not have adequate resources to protect themselves or to recover from disaster
What is the Federal government responsible for in emergency management?
- Assisting the States by reviewing plans, providing guidance, making plans and assessing their capability to provide protection from large-scale, nationwide disasters
- Supplements State assistance when State and local resources are insufficient to complete recovery
How is financial assistance enacted?
Local governor applies to the Governor who then studies the damage estimates to declare the area a State disaster
If local and State resources are not sufficient, the Governor applies to the President for Federal disaster assistance who then declares a major disaster declaration
What are the steps in the Emergency Management cycle?
- Prevention & mitigation
- Preparedness
- Response
- Rehabilitation & recovery
What occurs during the mitigation step?
Activities that prevent an emergency, reduce the chance of an emergency happening, or reduce the damaging effects of unavoidable emergencies
What occurs during the preparedness step?
Preparing to handle an emergency
Plans or preparations made to save lives and to help response and rescue operations –