INTRODUCTION: Currently, there is no widely available method to evaluate an emergency department disaster plan. Creation of a standardized patient database and the use of a virtual, live exercise may lead to a standardized and reproducible method that can be used to evaluate a disaster plan. PURPOSE: A virtual, live exercise was designed with the primary objective of evaluating a hospital's emergency department disaster plan. Education and training of participants was a secondary goal. METHODS: A database (disastermed.ca) of histories, physical examination findings, and laboratory results for 136 simulated patients was created using information derived from actual patient encounters. The patient database was used to perform a virtual, live exercise using a training version of the emergency department's information system software. RESULTS: Several solutions to increase patient flow were demonstrated during the exercise. Conducting the exercise helped identify several faults in the hospital disaster plan, including outlining the important rate-limiting step. In addition, a significant degree of under-triage was demonstrated. Estimates of multiple markers of patient flow were identified and compared to Canadian guidelines. Most participants reported that the exercise was a valuable learning experience. CONCLUSIONS: A virtual, live exercise using the disastermed.ca patient database was an inexpensive method to evaluate the emergency department disaster plan. This included discovery of new approaches to managing patients, delineating the rate-limiting steps, and evaluating triage accuracy. Use of the patient timestamps has potential as a standardized international benchmark of hospital disaster plan efficacy. Participant satisfaction was high.
INTRODUCTION: Currently, there is no widely available method to evaluate an emergency department disaster plan. Creation of a standardized patient database and the use of a virtual, live exercise may lead to a standardized and reproducible method that can be used to evaluate a disaster plan. PURPOSE: A virtual, live exercise was designed with the primary objective of evaluating a hospital's emergency department disaster plan. Education and training of participants was a secondary goal. METHODS: A database (disastermed.ca) of histories, physical examination findings, and laboratory results for 136 simulated patients was created using information derived from actual patient encounters. The patient database was used to perform a virtual, live exercise using a training version of the emergency department's information system software. RESULTS: Several solutions to increase patient flow were demonstrated during the exercise. Conducting the exercise helped identify several faults in the hospital disaster plan, including outlining the important rate-limiting step. In addition, a significant degree of under-triage was demonstrated. Estimates of multiple markers of patient flow were identified and compared to Canadian guidelines. Most participants reported that the exercise was a valuable learning experience. CONCLUSIONS: A virtual, live exercise using the disastermed.ca patient database was an inexpensive method to evaluate the emergency department disaster plan. This included discovery of new approaches to managing patients, delineating the rate-limiting steps, and evaluating triage accuracy. Use of the patient timestamps has potential as a standardized international benchmark of hospital disaster plan efficacy. Participant satisfaction was high.
Authors: K Lennquist Montán; L Riddez; S Lennquist; A C Olsberg; H Lindberg; D Gryth; P Örtenwall Journal: Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg Date: 2016-06-22 Impact factor: 3.693
Authors: I Ashkenazi; A Ohana; B Azaria; A Gelfer; C Nave; Z Deutch; I Gens; M Fadlon; Y Dahan; L Rapaport; D Kishkinov; A Bar; E Tal-Or; N Vaknin; A Blumenfeld; B Kessel; R Alfici; O Olsha; M Michaelson Journal: Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg Date: 2011-10-05 Impact factor: 3.693
Authors: Randy D Kearns; David E Marcozzi; Noran Barry; Lewis Rubinson; Charles Scott Hultman; Preston B Rich Journal: Clin Plast Surg Date: 2017-04-29 Impact factor: 2.017