Question

Management plan case 2

Your facility is a large children’s hospital in north Texas. Until recently your facility was part of a larger health care facility run by the state. The facility is now corporately owned and operated. During this reorganization period a major fire occurred at a local elementary school. Over 100 injured children were sent to your facility for care. You encountered many problems: care was delayed and inappropriate for many children because of the nature of their injuries due to lack of parental consent for treatment and smoke inhalation and burns.

Your task is to develop a disaster plan specifically to address the deficiencies and to reshape your public image following the fire at the elementary school.

Answer 1

Problems that can be faced during such a disasters can never be completely solved but being alert and vigilant, expecting a disaster any moment and getting mentally prepared with all the emergency equipments and medications and following a plan of action will deinitely help.

The world wide accepted plan of action during any disaster is following Triage.Triage is the process of discriminating/ordering the patients depending on the priority of medical attention needed based on the severity of their condition.this helps a lot when the human and medical resources aren't enough to treat everyone.Triage uses flag colours and has specific management plan.

Red tags/flags -(Immediate) denotes people who cannot survive without immediate treatment but who have a chance of survival

Yellow tags- (Observation) Patients whose condition is stable for the moment and are not in danger of death.They should still be in hospital for observation

Green tags - (Wait) These patients needs to be treated but only once all the emergency cases are done.

White tags - (Dismiss) Minor injuries which doesn't need a doctors care

Black tags - (Deceased/ about to pass away) patients with extensive injuries who will not be able to survive given te care that is available.

The patient treatment should be prioritized in the same order and 1st priority should be given to red flagged people and least to the black flagged ones.

Transportation facilities should be intact everytime(Ambulance)

Good rappo with the near by hospitals and higher centres so that in case if you need to refer a case there shouldn't be any hindrance.

The medicines and other things needed for a disaster (Disaster management kit)should be kept seperately and reneiwed every now and then.

Its proven that mouth publicity is the best way of spreading a news hence pass on the information or bring your arrangements in to notice of your own patients by putting up posters whereverpossible. Say wards, outpatient department, counters etc. Even then giving an advertisement in newspaper or radio regarding the Disaster management arrangements made in the hospital will be helpful.