title: The experience at St. Vincent's Hospital, Manhattan, on September 11, 2001: preparedness, response, and lessons learned.
abstract: St. Vincent's Hospital in New York City was the primary recipient of patients after the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. This experience prompted the drafting of a formal disaster plan, which was implemented during the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Here, we outline the Emergency Management External Disaster Plan of St. Vincent's Hospital and discuss the time course of presentation and medical characteristics of the critically injured patients on that day. We describe how the critical care service adapted to the specific challenges presented and the lessons that we learned. We hope to provide other critical care systems with a framework for response to such large-scale disasters.
authors.affiliation: St. Vincent's Hospital, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kirschenbaum
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Keene
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: O'Neill
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Westfal
authors.forename: Mark E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Astiz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003422:Critical Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D004189:Disaster Planning / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005260:Female; D006746:Hospital Bed Capacity, 500 and over; D006786:Hospitals, Urban / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D007373:Interinstitutional Relations; D008297:Male; D009519:New York City; D010343:Patient Admission; D010360:Patient Transfer; D018635:Rescue Work; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D047851:September 11 Terrorist Attacks; D014193:Trauma Centers / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014218:Triage / Q000458:organization & administration; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000145:classification / Q000628:therapy