Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
External disasters also have impacts on
hospitals. Typically these disasters impact the
community and result in additional patient loads.
Patient loads may not only be due to injuries,
but inability to refill prescriptions, inability to get
follow up care (such as dialysis or oxygen), and
lack of normal medical (family physician) avenues.
Hospitals, due to their planning, may be the only
place in a community with lights, heat and food
when all else may appear dark and hopeless; thus,
a beacon to the community. Typical external disas-
ters which affect hospitals are well known and
include wild land fires, floods, tornados, earth-
quakes, hurricanes, and terrorist events.
If you work in a hospital there is a good chance
at some time in your career you will have to
respond not just to a crisis, but a disaster.
Many emergency preparedness planners look to
where terrorist events are common and how hospi-
tals respond to these events for “best practices.”
Israel is, unfortunately, where most of this infor-
mation has been of great value.
While the above events were national in
scope, many communities have experienced their
own significant events, some planned, some not
planned, that have resulted in changes to the way
that hospitals in the community respond to crisis.
In the Seattle metropolitan area we have had chem-
ical plant mishaps resulting in hundreds of sick
residents, snow and ice storms which crippled
transportation in the region (Seattle does not do
well with snow), evacuation of a two hundred bed
hospital due to lack of power (during the day with
on-going surgeries), and the World Trade Orga-
nization (WTO) event (content.lib.edu/wtoweb)
which did not result in many patients, but in trans-
portation, significant facility, security and safety
concerns.
Every community most likely has its own
example of events. While it is important to learn
from national events, it is also critical to learn
and communicate how to improve on the local
level. Many Clinical Engineering groups, organi-
zations and communities did this in preparation
for Y2K. Meetings were held, information and
ideas were exchanged and plans were developed.
However, Y2K had a definitive end date. Emer-
gency preparedness requires the same communica-
tions, but on a routine and ongoing basis.
Emergency planning does not have to be “over
the top.” Look at your hospital, your commu-
nity and determine what may be situations that
you need to respond. Are there railroad tracks in
town? Do they carry hazardous materials? What
if one (or more) derailed and started leaking?
(South Carolina) Is the hospital located near a
sports stadium? What if something occurred at
the stadium and hundreds of people flooded the
hospital? (Wisconsin) What is your threat of wild-
fires? What if you had to evacuate the hospital due
to fires in the forests? (California) How do you
prepare for a hurricane? Earthquake? Start small
and plan as best you can, talk with your peers at
other hospitals, maybe even create a community
16.1 Lessons Learned
As response to disasters are infrequent events,
learning from past disasters and what worked and
did not work, is very valuable. In clinical engi-
neering, this means contacting your peers who
were affected by the disaster and determining what
went well and what did not. All of the informa-
tion gained should be added to your personal and
departmental disaster plan.
Some events which have provided significant
after action lessons learned include:
•
The Kansas City Hotel Walkway Collapse—
7/17/81—This
is
considered
the
advent
of
emergency medical
and urban rescue
response [1].
•
The Oklahoma City Bombing—4/19/95 [2].
•
The Columbine High School Shootings—
4/20/99 [3].
•
The Texas Floods due to Tropical Storm—
Allison 6/9/01—The largest known evacuation
of patients in the United States under less than
ideal conditions (prior to Katrina) [4].
•
And of course September 11, 2001.
•
Hurricane season of 2004-5 in Florida and the
Gulf Coast [5].
