TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2021//
TI  - Impact of a disaster drill on waiting times in a pediatric emergency department
JO  - Disaster medicine and public health preparedness
A1  - Asenjo, Silvia
A1  - López-González, Aitor
A1  - Muñoz-Santanach, David
A1  - Trenchs, Victoria
A1  - Luaces, Carles
A1  - Parra, Cristina
SP  - ePub
EP  - ePub
VL  - ePub
IS  - ePub
N2  - OBJECTIVE: Emergency departments should improve their preparedness for mass casualty incidents (MCIs) through periodic drills. These exercises are conducted while maintaining regular care. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of a disaster drill in a pediatric emergency department (PED) on real patients' waiting times. <br><br>METHODS: On September 10, 2019, a 4-h disaster drill was conducted in the PED of a tertiary pediatric hospital, with minimal staff reinforcement (2 nurses). Cases were real patients that came to the PED during the drill. The patients that visited the PED the day before were the control group. Variables analyzed were: age, sex, destination, triage level, time-to-triage, time-to-physician, length of PED stay, and percentage of patients visited within the optimal time according to triage level. <br><br>RESULTS: Sixty-eight patients (case group) and 63 patients (control group) were analyzed; both groups were comparable except for the median age. There were no differences in time-to-triage, time-to-physician, and length of PED stay between the 2 groups. The percentage of patients visited within optimal time according to triage level was higher in the case group. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Conducting an MCI drill in the PED, with minimal staff reinforcement, was not detrimental to real patients' waiting times.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1935-7893
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2021.252
ID  - ref1
ER  -