Disaster Plan of Hacettepe University Hospital in Turkey: A Hospital Emergency Department Triage Drill

Doğaç Niyazi Özüçelik; Mahir Kunt; Meltem Akkaş; Evvah Karakılıç; M. Ali Karaca; Fadime Karahisar; Esin Gülkaya; Zeynep Temizyürek; Mücahit Emet; Figen Coşkun; Bülent Sivri; Ahmet Şahin

Doğaç Niyazi Özüçelik¹, Mahir Kunt¹, Meltem Akkaş¹, Evvah Karakılıç¹, M. Ali Karaca¹, Fadime Karahisar¹, Esin Gülkaya¹, Zeynep Temizyürek¹, Mücahit Emet¹, Figen Coşkun¹, Bülent Sivri¹, Ahmet Şahin²

¹Hacettepe University Hospital, Department Of Emergency Medicine, Ankara
²Hacettepe University Hospital, Administration, Ankara

Abstract

Objectives: The practice of disaster triage in the emergency department (ED) was one of the biggest problems for hospitals during a disaster. The aim of this study was to determine the accuracy, and total drill period of a disaster drill simulated by a mock explosion.
Materials and Methods: H ac e tt epe Univ e rsity Hosp ital, with a 1150-bed capacity, is one of the largest hosp itals in Ank ara, Turkey’s cap ital city. The ED dis a ster triage drill was cond u cted according to Hac e ttepe University Hospital’s Dis a ster Plan Book on June 15th, 2004. Hac e tt epe Univ e rsity Hosp ital’s Triage Tag which were prep ared in a dou bl e - s ided format both in Turkish and English were used in drill. The ED triage drill was perf o rmed foll owing a mock expl os ion scen ar io. A total of 35 vol u nteers took part in this drill (emergency physcians (EP), nurses, par am edics as well as 19 other hospital personnel as pat ients and pat ients’ fam il ies). Triage training were given to all of the vol u nt eers two weeks ago. Bef ore the drill, the front part of the ED was set up as triage area and the ED was sep ar ated into 4 areas (1. red, 2. yellow, 3. green, 4. black). One of the EPs was charged in triage area, one of them in red area, one of them in yellow area, one of them in green area and one emergency nurse was c h a rged in black area. After the drill fin i shed, the time of the drill and acc uraccy of the triage were doc um e nt e d and comp ared to other stud ies.
Results: All patients were arrived by different vehicles to the hospital. All patients were evaluated one by one in the triage area by an EP and were then taken to a different, suitable location for initial stabilization in the ED. All patients were evaluated again and their management were performed by other physicians. The ED triage drill was completed in a shorter time (8 minutes) than the prior drills performed in other studies (45 min to 2 hours) and showed a higher triage accurracy (100%) than has been reported in other studies (55% to 75%).
Conclusion: ED Triage drill studies play a critical role in determining hospitals’ sufficiency of preparations for a disaster.