227999 Disaster responses in North Carolina demonstrate the need for statewide resource allocation

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Scott Cornella, BA , School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
Jane Brice, MD, MPH , School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
Greg Mears, MD , Emergency Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
Frances Shofer, PhD , Emergency Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel, NC
Charles Cairns, MD , Department of Emergency Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
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.

Learning Objectives:
1) Assess the availability of hospital resources during three disasters in North Carolina.

Keywords: Disasters, Hospitals

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I participated in every aspect of the research and was primarily responsible for the conduct of the work and its output.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.