Citation

Little M, Stone T, Stone R, Burns J, Reeves J, Cullen P, Humble I, Finn E, Aitken PJ, Elcock M, Gillard N. Acad. Emerg. Med. 2012; 19(9): E1088-E1098.

Vernacular Title

La Evacuación de los Hospitales de Cairns Durante al Devastador Ciclón Tropical Yasi.

Affiliation

From the Department of Emergency Medicine, Cairns Base Hospital (ML, TS, RS, JB, JR, PC, IH, EF), Cairns, Queensland, Australia; Medical Administration, Cairns Base Hospital (PC), Cairns, Queensland; the Anton Breinl Centre for Public Health & Tropical Medicine, James Cook University (ML, PA), Townsville, Queensland; Careflight Medical Services (EF), Robina, Queensland; the Emergency Department, The Townsville Hospital (PA), Townsville, Queensland; Retrieval Services Queensland (PA, ME), Queensland, Australia; the Emergency Management Unit, Queensland Health (NG), Brisbane; and the Department of Emergency Medicine, Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital (ME), Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, Society for Academic Emergency Medicine, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1553-2712.2012.01439.x

PMID

22978739

Abstract

ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE 2012; 19:1088-1098 © 2012 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine ABSTRACT: On February 2, 2011, Tropical Cyclone Yasi, the largest cyclone to cross the Australian coast and a system the size of Hurricane Katrina, threatened the city of Cairns. As a result, the Cairns Base Hospital (CBH) and Cairns Private Hospital (CPH) were both evacuated, the hospitals were closed, and an alternate emergency medical center was established in a sports stadium 15 km from the Cairns central business district. This article describes the events around the evacuation of 356 patients, staff, and relatives to Brisbane (approximately 1,700 km away by road), closure of the hospitals, and the provision of a temporary emergency medical center for 28 hours during the height of the cyclone. Our experience highlights the need for adequate and exercised hospital evacuation plans; the need for clear command and control with identified decision-makers; early decision-making on when to evacuate; having good communication systems with redundancy; ensuring that patients are adequately identified and tracked and have their medications and notes; ensuring adequate staff, medications, and oxygen for holding patients; and planning in detail the alternate medical facility safety and its role, function, and equipment.

Language: en