title: Short Text Messages (SMS) as an Additional Tool for Notifying Medical Staff in Case of a Hospital Mass Casualty Incident.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of the study was to verify the effectiveness of short text messages (short message service, or SMS) as an additional notification tool in case of fire or a mass casualty incident in a hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 2242 SMS text messages were sent to 59 hospital workers divided into 3 groups (n=21, n=19, n=19). Messages were sent from a Samsung GT-S8500 Wave cell phone and Orange Poland was chosen as the telecommunication provider. During a 3-month trial period, messages were sent between 3:35 PM and midnight with no regular pattern. Employees were asked to respond by telling how much time it would take them to reach the hospital in case of a mass casualty incident.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean reaction time (SMS reply) was 36.41 minutes. The mean declared time of arrival to the hospital was 100.5 minutes. After excluding 10% of extreme values for declared arrival time, the mean arrival time was estimated as 38.35 minutes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Short text messages (SMS) can be considered an additional tool for notifying medical staff in case of a mass casualty incident.
authors.affiliation: 1Department of Emergency Medicine and Disaster Medicine,Medical University of Lodz,Łódź,Poland.
authors.forename: Dariusz
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Timler
authors.affiliation: 2Department of Cranio-Maxillofacial and Oncological Surgery,Medical University of Lodz,Łódź,Poland.
authors.forename: Katarzyna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bogusiak
authors.affiliation: 3Plastic,Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery Clinic,Medical University of Lodz,Łódź,Poland.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kasielska-Trojan
authors.affiliation: 2Department of Cranio-Maxillofacial and Oncological Surgery,Medical University of Lodz,Łódź,Poland.
authors.forename: Aneta
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Neskoromna-Jędrzejczak
authors.affiliation: 4Department of Emergency Medicine,Warsaw Medical University,Warsaw,Poland.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gałązkowski
authors.affiliation: 5Department of Cardiosurgery and Transplantology,Institute of Cardiology,Warsaw,Poland.
authors.forename: Łukasz
authors.initials: Ł
authors.lastname: Szarpak
mesh_terms: D003142:Communication; D004189:Disaster Planning / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D054527:Mass Casualty Incidents; D010564:Personnel, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*; D011044:Poland; D060145:Text Messaging; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: SMS; mass casualty incidents; reaction time; short message service