Regarding disaster planning, which ONE of the following statements is TRUE?
Answer: B: Disaster planning is organized on an integrated approach to deal with any circumstance (all-hazard, all-agency). However, standard codes are nationally applied to a number of specific circumstances – red, (fire), blue (cardiac arrest), black (personal injury threat), yellow (internal emergency), brown (external emergency), purple (bomb threat) and orange (evacuation).
Australian disaster planning is coordinated under aegis of Emergency Management Australia (EMA), a branch of the Attorney-General’s Department of the Australian Government. EMA supports a comprehensive approach to emergency management, pursuing a cooperative and collaborative relationship with government agencies, and encouraging this all-hazard, all-agency approach to disaster planning. A tiered response is organized, with integrated plans existing at local, state and federal levels. Disaster planning is structured around five management activities: strategic, planning, logistics, operational and financial management.
A major incident is defined as an incident causing so many live casualties that special arrangements are necessary to deal with them. The level meeting this standard will depend on the location and type of injuries, as well as the availability of local healthcare resources.
The process of disaster planning addresses four phases of an incident: prevention, preparation, response and recovery.
See also .
Reference:
In the event of a mass casualty incident, which ONE of the following statements on site operations is TRUE?
Answer: A: The following mnemonic can be used to announce and report an incident.
METHANE
In past disasters, communication failures have been a recurring feature. However, the first priority in managing the scene of a disaster is to establish chains of command between and within services in order to organize the other aspects of care. There is another mnemonic to recall the key elements of a disaster response.
CSCATTT
Decontamination processes should be carried out on site prior to transport. This is to avoid contaminating healthcare facilities, which puts the safety of staff and all patients at risk. Nevertheless, contaminated patients may make their own way directly to hospitals, and this hazard must be recognized at an early stage.
Triage processes apply a rapid sieve and sort process, to identify how the most benefit can be brought to the greatest number of patients. The triage sieve identifies the order of transfer to treatment areas. A subsequent sort using more detailed physiological criteria determines the order of transport to hospital.
Regarding preparation or response to an incipient influx of casualties to the ED, which ONE of the following statements is most CORRECT?
Answer: D: Key initial steps in managing an incipient surge of patients are the establishment of control over and around the department in order to ensure arriving patients are directed to appropriate clinical areas, and to limit access by non-patient groups such as relatives and the media. This is in keeping with the CSCATTT concept described previously (answer 2).
Surge capacity includes four elements (4 Ss):
Available bed spaces are only one element of a hospital’s ability to deal with a surge. All patients arriving during the management of an incident should be tracked using the same (dedicated) documentation system, since they involve deploying the same ED and hospital resources. ED staff are best utilized within the ED – it is possible that potentially contaminated or untreated patients will make their own way to the hospital, arriving prior to anticipated ambulance transfers. Inpatient staff should be engaged to retrieve patients who are already in the ED to their own areas prior to arrival of new patients. Surge management requires a whole-of-hospital response, not one confined to the ED.
Regarding roles and responsibilities at a disaster site, which ONE of the following statements is TRUE?
Answer: D: The first two ambulance officers become the transport collection officer and the casualty collection officer. Between them they are responsible for organizing the casualty clearing system for removing all patients from the scene. The casualty collection officer carries out initial triage using a triage sieve, delivering minimal first aid.
The senior medical officer on site is the scene medical officer, who has responsibility for management of medical resources at the site and liaises with central coordination. The scene medical officer does not triage or treat patients themselves. Disaster teams – small groups of medical and nursing staff – operate under the direction of the scene medical officer; their activities are confined to life-saving procedures such as airway management, haemorrhage control and support, and analgesia. They do not provide more complex interventions such as intubation or CPR.
Regarding disaster equipment and supplies, which ONE of the following statements is TRUE?
Answer: D: There is an ongoing legal requirement for controlled drugs to be used under monitored and documented circumstances, whether in hospital or in the field. A chain of accountability must follow the transport and use of these medications.
Key personnel at a disaster scene should be wearing labelled vests or tabards that are easily identifiable. This allows key personnel in each service to recognize each other at a distance, and to liaise more effectively. Rescuers must have sturdy protective clothing and boots to avoid adding to the casualty load; individuals who are inappropriately dressed should be denied access to the site, regardless of their expertise. Radio communications should be controlled via a communications officer in the command post, with all site rescuers operating on the same frequency.
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