EMS AND DISASTER MEDICINE■ Three categories:
■ Those who are unsalvageable.
■ Those who will survive regardless of care
■ Those who will benefit from field intervention
Disaster Response
Prehospital phase, important components include:
■ Incident Command System =the standard emergency management sys-
tem for a single scene disaster. It has five components:
■ Incident command: The incident commander has overall manage-
ment responsibility for the incident.
■ Operations (tactical activities, managing resources)
■ Planning
■ Logistics (providing resources)
■ Financing
■ Communications: Number 1 problem during disasters
■ Health considerations: Storing dead, mechanisms for water/food supplies
Hospital phase, important components include:
■ Control center: Near, but not in ED, to monitor all activities
■ Plan activation: Must have rapid plan to get necessary personnel
■ Treatment areas: Correspond to triage categories and where continued
triage is ongoing
■ Documentation: Critical information only
■ Security: Control perimeter, establish ingress and egress routes
■ Waiting areas: Separate for patients, police, and media
Disaster Response Organizations
Table 20.8 summarizes the federal response resources that are available.
The standard prehospital
management system for a
single scene disaster =
Incident Command System.TABLE 20.8. Disaster Response Organizations
ORGANIZATION RESOURCEPROVIDEDDepartment of Homeland Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
Security State and local assistanceNational Disaster Medical Federally coordinated system of government and
System (NDMS) private institutions
Disaster medical assistance teams (DMATs)Centers for Disease Control Public health emergency preparedness and responseDepartment of Veterans Affairs Highly trained disaster medical personnelUrban search and rescue Highly trained medical, fire, and rescue personnelMetropolitan Medical Personnel and equipment to enhance local
Response Systems planning and disaster responseThe military Response personnel