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Abstract
Many hospital emergency plans focus on the hospital as a disaster responder, with
a fully operational medical facility, able to receive and treat mass casualties from
a clearly defined accident scene. However, hospitals need to prepare a response for
extreme casualty events such as earthquakes, tornadoes, or hurricanes. This article
describes the planning, mitigation, response, and recovery of a major medical-surgical
center thrust into a victim responder role following the devastating Northridge earthquake.
The subsequent evacuation and care of patients, treatment of casualties, incident
command, prior education and training, and recovery issues are addressed.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
December 6,
1995
Received in revised form:
December 1,
1995
Received:
August 11,
1995
Footnotes
☆Disaster Medicine is coordinated by Irving “Jake” Jacoby, md, of the University of California-San Diego Medical Center, San Diego, California.
Identification
Copyright
© 1996 Published by Elsevier Inc.
