Citation

Manion P, Golden IJ. Disaster Manage. Response 2004; 2(1): 14-19.

Affiliation

Genesys Regional Medical Center Trauma Services, Grand Blanc, MI 48439, USA. pmanion@genesys.org

Copyright

(Copyright © 2004, Emergency Nurses Association, Publisher Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/S1540

PMID

14760289

Abstract

Hospital disaster plans should be developed to cover any potential event that could require the immediate evacuation of all patients. Intensive care unit (ICU) patients present multiple challenges for planners: reliability of hospital elevators, manpower needed to transport patients, and the time needed for stabilization before patient transfer. If the ICU is located on an upper floor of the hospital and patients have numerous life-support interventions in place, a vertical evacuation can require more resources than anticipated. A study was done using 12 moulaged patients who were carried down 4 flights of stairs. The lessons learned from the drill are reported.

Language: en