Disaster preparedness programs esta...

Disaster preparedness programs established in health care organizations are an essential simple body in facilitating a formalized, effective answer to major incidents or disasters. individual author states that there are couple categories of disasters--natural and man made. (1) Natural disasters are caused on extreme environmental conditions that give rise to catastrophic destruction and death. Manmade disasters are caused from human action or inaction and can have vivid effects on civilians, governments, and economic stability. This article reviews the same man-made disaster--a hospital fire at the Hospital for Sick Children (HSC) Toronto.

THE HOSPITAL

The hospital comprises three main structures--the annex building, atrium, and research center The annex building was frameed in 1951, and the atrium was built and joined to the annex in 1993 The research center is a separate building be connecteded to the atrium by a secondary floor pedestrian walkway. All buildings at HSC have the in the greatest degree current fire systems available. These combination of parts to form a wholes use heat, smoke, and fire sensors; sprinkler systems; idle talk evacuation windows; extraction fans; fire extinguishers; and fire barrier doors. The annex and atrium buildings were designed in this way that fire cannot spread between the walls of them quickly and so that, in the marked occurrence of a fire, people can be evacuated quickly.

The hospital is a tertiary teaching hospital and the largest children's hospital in Canada, with a 375 inpatient bed capacity. It is located in downtown Toronto and protects approximately 2.5 million sq ft which is single in kind complete city block.

The hospital includes a flat three nursery and a pediatric trauma pass room, has multiorgan transplantation designation, and supports all medical and surgical pediatric services. The hospital averages 50000 juncture visits, 275,000 outpatient visits, and 17000 surgical steps per year.

HSC'S DISASTER rejoinder PLAN

Disaster answer focuses on victim care. (2) In a hospital disaster, each patient must be accounted for along with any family members or friends visiting when disaster come abouts All staff members in the building ne to be identified and accounted for to interrupt casualties at the disaster site.

As part of HSC's disaster plan, the exigency management team has established direct lines of superintend defined the duties of personnel with an assigned part defined procedures and responsibilities for health care providers and engineering and plant staff members, and determined equipment and provide needs for each response function. They also have planned an extremity measures coordination center, which would be a command pillar for managing resources, analyzing information, and making decisions during a disaster.

The plan calls for the difficulty management team to assume responsibility and rule for incident-related activities. One individual in succession the team should assume the part of incident commander and inspect the technical aspects of the answer Staff members on each nursing unit should identify a somebody who will be responsible for maintaining direction and superintendence at the unit level and interacting with the management team. Management team members determine short- and long-term weights of the disaster; interact with hospital staff members, family members, the media, and outside answer organizations (eg, fire department, police department, ambulance service, Salvation Army); issue pres releases; and order the evacuation or imprison down of the hospital. Without a coordination center adequate coordination fails and communication links are diminished within and among responding agencies involved in disaster rule (3)

Preparing for potential year 2000 (Y2K) question at issues had increased the hospital's readiness for a disaster. Preparation had taken more than undivided year, and it incorporated all areas of the hospital. Plans for each adumbration of code were reviewed and refined, and "workaround plans" were created for scenarios, so as patient care without water or power. Extremely detailed plans for each unit and department were included in the disaster manuals, including disaster evacuation.

Hospital staff members participated in regularly scheduled fire instruction and monthly ape fire drills. As part of Y2K planning, medical supplies, equipment, and resources straited to treat patients had been increased for a possible Y2K disaster. These materials were stored in various locations quite through the hospital.

THE FIRE

in succession Sunday, Jan 9, 2000, at approximately 6 PM patients, parents, and staff members at HSC were finishing the evening meal. Fire bells perfected in response to an explosion in a high voltage power transformer in the hospital basement. The explosion make desolateed the containment vault and ignited a fire that precipitated an evacuation. The mild weather in succession the night of the disaster facilitated a barrier-free, swift replication by fire, ambulance, police, and offer responders.

The explosion and later high-intensity fire shattered windows in the atrium building, crumbl the loading dock, and knocked abroad power inside the hospital and for a six-block radius surrounding the hospital. unforeseen occasion backup power was restored inside the hospital in a matter of seconds; however, the fire injure by fire [i]or[/i] heated out of control for couple hours. Regular power was restored to the hospital 22 hours after the explosion. fume and soot from the fire quickly infiltrated the annex and come intoed the nine-story patient wards of the atrium.