Evacuate or 'hunker down?' ED experts ponder options as Katrina wreaks havoc.
The decision to evacuate in advance of a major storm requires the ED manager to make a number of critical decisions. The decisions must be made well in advance of anticipated landfall, to ensure that patients and staff can get to safety. Determine which patients should be admitted, which should be transferred, and which must remain where they are. Have alternative facilities lined up ahead of time, should the need arise to transfer your patients.
D003659:Decision Making, Organizational; D004189:Disaster Planning; D004190:Disasters; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008145:Louisiana; D008922:Mississippi; D010360:Patient Transfer; D012449:Safety; D014218:Triage