Info exchange helps guide preparation for taxing patient surges

by John Palmer (johnpalmer@palmereditorial.com)

In today’s environment of mass shootings and other mass casualty incidents (MCI), hospitals need to be prepared to deal with a surge of patients at a moment’s notice.

According to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the term medical surge refers to a hospital’s ability to provide “adequate medical evaluation and care during events that exceed the limits of the normal infrastructure of an affected community. It encompasses the ability of healthcare organizations to survive a hazard impact and maintain or rapidly recover operations that were compromised.” Additionally, “[t]he surge requirements may extend beyond direct patient care to include such tasks as extensive laboratory studies or epidemiological investigations.”

In today’s environment of mass shootings and other mass casualty incidents (MCI), hospitals need to be prepared to deal with a surge of patients at a moment’s notice.