Disaster responses in North Carolina demonstrate the need for statewide resource allocation

Background: Though rare, disasters are unique challenges for acute healthcare resources. Many hospitals operate at near-maximum capacity making surge capacity a concern for disaster planners. Data on local and statewide hospital resource availability during actual disasters are limited. Our purpose was to assess the hospital resource availability during three recent disasters in North Carolina (NC). Methods: In this observational study, the State Medical Asset Resource Tracking Tool (SMARTT) system was assessed during three recent disasters. SMARTT is a state-required web-based tool tracking open and available beds and resources for all NC hospitals, health centers, and EMS systems daily. The included disasters were a series of tornadoes that struck mid-NC (Greensboro) on May 8, 2008, an explosion at a food processing plant in eastern NC (Garner) on June 6, 2009, and tropical storm Hanna which made landfall in coastal NC on September 6, 2008. Results: Resources available with a twenty mile radius of each disaster were: Greensboro tornadoes: 0 burn beds, 59 ED beds, 79 floor beds, 16 ICU beds, 2 OR beds. Garner explosion: 0 burn beds, 96 ED beds, 139 floor beds, 5 ICU beds, 27 OR beds. Tropical Storm Hanna: 0 burn beds, 0 ED beds, 0 floor beds, 0 ICU beds, 0 OR beds. Conclusion: NC hospitals across three distinct geographical areas appear to lack acute beds to locally accommodate patient influx during these three disasters. These data support the need for statewide disaster planning to readily identify available hospital resources and acute care transport strategies.