Emergency operations program is an excellent platform to deal with in-hospital operation disaster

Authors

  • Frederick B. Rogers, MD, MS, FACS
  • William McCune, MPH
  • Shreya Jammula, BS
  • Brian W. Gross, BS
  • Eric H. Bradburn, DO, MS, FACS
  • Deborah K. Riley, MD, CPPS
  • Jeffrey Manning, BS, CHSP, EMT-P

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5055/ajdm.2017.0280

Keywords:

emergency operations program, in-hospital operation disaster, trauma, operating room, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system

Abstract

Described herein is the utilization of the hospital's Emergency Operations Plan and incident command structure to mitigate damage caused by the sudden loss of the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system within the entire operating room suite. The ability to ameliorate a devastating situation that occurred during working hours at a busy Level II trauma center can be ascribed to the dedication of the leadership and clinical teams working seamlessly together. Their concerted efforts were augmented by adherence to an established protocol that had been thoroughly substantiated and practiced during numerous training simulations. This resulted in successful and timely resolution of an internal crisis that crippled the surgical capabilities of the sole trauma center in the county. After thorough investigation and identification of the issues that contributed to the malfunction, redundancies were built into the system to ensure that a similar incident did not occur again.

Author Biographies

Frederick B. Rogers, MD, MS, FACS

Lancaster General Health/Penn Medicine, Lancaster, Pennsylvania

William McCune, MPH

Lancaster General Health/Penn Medicine, Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Shreya Jammula, BS

Lancaster General Health/Penn Medicine, Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Brian W. Gross, BS

Lancaster General Health/Penn Medicine, Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Eric H. Bradburn, DO, MS, FACS

Lancaster General Health/Penn Medicine, Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Deborah K. Riley, MD, CPPS

Lancaster General Health/Penn Medicine, Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Jeffrey Manning, BS, CHSP, EMT-P

Lancaster General Health/Penn Medicine, Lancaster, Pennsylvania

References

Guide for All-Hazard Emergency Operations Planning. Federal Emergency Management Agency. Available at https://www.fema.gov/pdf /plan/slg101.pdf. Accessed September 19, 2017.

All-Hazards preparedness Guide. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Available at https://www.cdc.gov/phpr/documents/ahpg_final_march_2013.pdf. Accessed September, 19, 2017.

Federal Emergency Management Program: Incident Command Structure. Available at https://training.fema.gov/emiweb/is/icsresource/assets/reviewmaterials.pdf. Accessed September, 20, 2017.

Metzler EC, Kodali BS, Urman RD et al.: Strategies to maintain operating room functionality following the complete loss of the recovery room due to an internal disaster. Am J Disaster Med. 2015; 10(1): 5-12.

Published

10/01/2017

How to Cite

Rogers, MD, MS, FACS, F. B., W. McCune, MPH, S. Jammula, BS, B. W. Gross, BS, E. H. Bradburn, DO, MS, FACS, D. K. Riley, MD, CPPS, and J. Manning, BS, CHSP, EMT-P. “Emergency Operations Program Is an Excellent Platform to Deal With in-Hospital Operation Disaster”. American Journal of Disaster Medicine, vol. 12, no. 4, Oct. 2017, pp. 267-73, doi:10.5055/ajdm.2017.0280.

Issue

Section

Case Studies