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Emergency Department Organisation for Disasters: A Review of Emergency Department Disaster Plans in Public Hospitals of Singapore

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 June 2012

Francis Chun Yue Lee ,
Siang Hiong Goh ,
Ho Poh Wong  and
V. Anantharaman
Francis Chun Yue Lee*
Affiliation:
Associate Consultant, Emergency Department, National University Hospital, Singapore
Siang Hiong Goh
Affiliation:
Consultant, Accident and Emergency Department, Changi General Hospital, Singapore
Ho Poh Wong
Affiliation:
Senior Consultant and Head, Emergency Department, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore
V. Anantharaman
Affiliation:
Senior Consultant and Head, Department of Emergency Medicine, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore
*
*Emergency Department, National University Hospital5 Lower Kent Ridge Road, Singapore 119074
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Abstract

Disaster management plans of emergency departments (EDs) in four major public hospitals were reviewed. A comparison was made between these plans, and they were analyzed to gain an understanding of the differing objectives and doctrines behind the practices. These were summarized into five major management concepts, which are considered to be critical to the success of a disaster plan: 1) staff mobilization systems (cascading vs batch mobilization); 2) staff deployment systems; 3) team organization (surgeons vs residents); 4) area management (the role of the area manager); 5) casualty volume management (accommodation vs expansion vs extension concepts). The-concepts derived should serve as a useful guide to the development of an ED disaster plan and potentially influence how new ED facilities could be planned.

Keywords

disaster plansemergency departmentspublic hospitalsSingaporetriage
Type
Original Research
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 15 , Issue 1 , March 2000 , pp. 28 - 39
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2000

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