title: Disaster planning, Part I. Overview of hospital and emergency department planning for internal and external disasters.
abstract: The definition and causes for internal and external disasters are discussed in this article. Features of a hospital disaster plan are outlined with special reference to the role of the emergency department. Examples of previous disasters involving hospitals are presented to demonstrate problems that disaster planners should anticipate.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester, USA.
authors.forename: C P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.forename: R V
authors.initials: RV
authors.lastname: Aghababian
mesh_terms: D004189:Disaster Planning; D004190:Disasters / Q000145:classification; D004635:Emergency Medicine; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans