Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
areas outside of the hospital facility but
contiguous to the ED.
B.
Announced Arrival
is a patient already entered
into the EMS system that arrives by ambu-
lance. The major advantage created by pre-
hospital notification is the provision of
preparatory time and available clinical data
and incident information from the field as well
as initial intervention by EMS personnel. The
arriving patient should be kept with the pre-
hospital EMS personnel outside of the ED
until the “decontamination team” is prepared
to assume patient care.
Consultation with the referring agency as
to the decontamination, if any, performed at
the incident scene must occur prior to admit-
ting these patients directly into the ED. This
should depend on the nature of the agent,
degree of decontamination provided in the
field, and suspicion of potential contamina-
tion upon visual inspection of the patient. If in
doubt, have the patient go through decontam-
ination at the hospital.
c. Notify EMS Public Safety Communi-
cations Center (PSCC) of incident and
request redirection of other ambulance
traffic to ED lobby entrance.
d. If incident involves multiple patients,
request that ED be placed on “reroute”
status.
B. Charge Nurse
a. Consult with charge MD and assess the
present patient capacity and acuity. If inci-
dent involves multiple patients, implement
“
Disaster Plan—Annex C
.”
b. Expedite movement of “admitted” patients
to assigned beds.
c. Notify the ED Patient Care Director and
Administrative Director as to the status of
incoming contaminated patients. Consider
the need for additional staff and resources
and initiate response, if warranted.
d. Initially assign 2 nurses and 2 technicians
to the decontamination team.
e. Notify ED registration, triage nurse, and
security.
f. Notify respiratory therapy and determine
the number of adult/pediatric ventilators.
g. Determine
Emergency Department Responsibilities
A. Communication Nurse
a. Obtain information from caller.
Determine
number
of
available
adult/pediatric beds.
C. Administrative Director
a. Notify security officers to redirect ED
traffic and ambulances.
b. Notify physical plant staff.
c. Notify environmental services.
d. Notify Personal Health for follow up on
staff involved.
e. Notify Media Relations to be available for
purpose of public information if needed.
f. Notify Administrator-on-call that
“
Disaster Plan - Annex C
” is being
implemented.
D. Charge MD
a. Confer with ED Charge Nurse regarding
the immediate need to implement the
“
Disaster Plan - Annex C
” and assess the
disposition status of existing patients in
the ED.
caller's
ID and telephone
number.
Type and nature of incident
Number of victims
Signs and symptoms being experienced by
victim
Nature of injuries
Prior medical history of victim—meds and
allergies
Name of chemical involved and what
information is readily available on
product container if present
Name of facility involved and/or type of
contaminants found at facility
Extent of victim decontamination in field
Other medical interventions completed
Estimated time of arrival (ETA)
b. Notify charge nurse.
