Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T00:40:24.911Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Patient-Driven Resource Planning of a Health Care Facility Evacuation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 January 2013

Bruno Petinaux  and
Kabir Yadav
Bruno Petinaux*
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, The George Washington University, Washington, DC USA
Kabir Yadav
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, The George Washington University, Washington, DC USA
*
Correspondence: Bruno Petinaux, MD Department of Emergency Medicine The George Washington University 2150 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20037 USA E-mail bpetinaux@mfa.gwu.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Introduction

The evacuation of a health care facility is a complex undertaking, especially if done in an immediate fashion, ie, within minutes. Patient factors, such as continuous medical care needs, mobility, and comprehension, will affect the efficiency of the evacuation and translate into evacuation resource needs. Prior evacuation resource estimates are 30 years old.

Methods

Utilizing a cross-sectional survey of charge nurses of the clinical units in an urban, academic, adult trauma health care facility (HCF), the evacuation needs of hospitalized patients were assessed periodically over a two-year period.

Results

Survey data were collected on 2,050 patients. Units with patients having low continuous medical care needs during an emergency evacuation were the postpartum, psychiatry, rehabilitation medicine, surgical, and preoperative anesthesia care units, the Emergency Department, and Labor and Delivery Department (with the exception of patients in Stage II labor). Units with patients having high continuous medical care needs during an evacuation included the neonatal and adult intensive care units, special procedures unit, and operating and post-anesthesia care units. With the exception of the neonate group, 908 (47%) of the patients would be able to walk out of the facility, 492 (25.5%) would require a wheelchair, and 530 (27.5%) would require a stretcher to exit the HCF. A total of 1,639 patients (84.9%) were deemed able to comprehend the need to evacuate and to follow directions; the remainder were sedated, blind, or deaf. The charge nurses also determined that 17 (6.9%) of the 248 adult intensive care unit patients were too ill to survive an evacuation, and that in 10 (16.4%) of the 61 ongoing surgery cases, stopping the case was not considered to be safe.

Conclusion

Heath care facilities can utilize the results of this study to model their anticipated resource requirements for an emergency evacuation. This will permit the Incident Management Team to mobilize the necessary resources both within the facility and the community to provide for the safest evacuation of patients.

PetinauxB, YadavK. Patient-Driven Resource Planning of a Health Care Facility Evacuation. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2013;28(2):1-7.

Keywords

emergency managementevacuationevacuation resourceshealth care facilityincident managementplanning
Type
Original Research
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 28 , Issue 2 , April 2013 , pp. 120 - 126
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Bell, JR. 200 patients evacuated in hospital fire. Fire J. 1985;79(4):55-63.Google ScholarPubMed
2.Blumhagen, DW. Evacuation of patients during a fire at a general hospital. Ann Em Med. 1987;16(2):209-214.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3.Carey, MG. Smoked out: emergency evacuation of an ICU. Am J Nurs. 2007;107(9):54-57.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4.Hogan, C. Responding to a fire at a pediatric hospital. AORN J. 2002;75(4):793-800.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5.Thomas, J, Lackey, N. How to evacuate a psychiatric hospital: a Hurricane Katrina success story. J Psychosocial Nurs Men Health Serv. 2008;46(1):35-40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6.Cocanour, CS, Allen, SJ, Mazabob, J. Lessons learned from the evacuation of an urban teaching hospital. Arch Surg. 2002;137(10):1141-1145.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7.Sexton, KH, Alperin, LM, Stobo, JD. Lessons from Hurricane Rita: the University of Texas Medical Branch Hospital's evacuation. Acad Med. 2007;82(8):792-796.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8.Perrin, K. A first for this century: closing and reopening of a children's hospital during a disaster. Pediatrics. 2006;117(5):S381-S385.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9.Chavez, CW, Binder, B. A hospital as victim and responder: the Sepulveda VA Medical Center and the Northridge earthquake. J Em Med. 1996;14(4):445-454.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10.Augustine, J. Evacuation of a rural community hospital: lessons learned from an unplanned event. Disaster Manag Resp. 2005;3(3):68-72.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11.Blaser, MJ, Ellison, RT. Rapid nighttime evacuation of a Veterans Hospital. J Em Med. 1985;3(5):387-394.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12.Anonymous. Evacuating the long-term care facility: a case study. Contemp Long-Term Care. 1988;11(3):62-64.Google Scholar
13.Burgess, J. Hospital evacuations due to hazardous materials incidents. Am J Em Med. 1999;17(1):50-52.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14.Vasudevan, P, Wade, K. Total facility evacuation at Helena Regional Medical Center. J Ark Med Soc. 1997;4(2):76-77.Google Scholar
15.Fisher, HL. Emergency evacuation of the Denver Veteran's Administration Medical Center. Mil Med. 1986;151(3):154-161.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16.Gibson, C. November 1979 – a day to remember: the Mississauga disaster. Can J Hosp Pharm. 1980;32(6):178-180.Google Scholar
17.Roberts, GS. The emergency evacuation of a geriatics hospital in Toxteth. Age Ageing. 1982;11(4):244-248.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18.Sternberg, E, Lee, GC, Huard, D. Counting Crises: US hospital Evacuations, 1971-1999. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2004;19(2):150-157.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
19.Hargest, TS. Emergency hospital evacuation plans: how adequate are they? Med Instrum. 1982;16(3):174-175.Google Scholar
20.Schultz, CH, Koenig, KL, Lewis, RJ. Implications of hospital evacuation after the Northridge, California earthquake. N Engl J Med. 2003;348(14):1349-1355.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
21.Gretenort, P, Harke, H, Blazejak, J, Pache, B, Leledakis, G. Interface between hospital and fire authorities – a concept for management of incidents in hospitals. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2002;17(1):42-47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
22.Anonymous. Evacuation Strategies for Disaster Planning. Healthcare Hazard Management Monitor. 2002;15(8):1-7.Google Scholar
23.Schultz, CH, Koenig, KL, Auf der Heide, E, Olsen, R. Benchmarking for hospital evacuation: a critical data collection tool. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2005;20(5):331-342.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
24.Hargest, TS. Fire: the unsolved hospital problem. Med Instrum. 1981;15(2):104-105.Google ScholarPubMed
25.Cruickshank, KJ. Fire and Evacuation Planning in Hospitals. Australas Nurs J. 1978;8(1):7-14.Google ScholarPubMed
26. Gas Leak Fire Burns Streets of D.C. http://www.wtop.com Accessed June 6, 2007.Google Scholar