Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-02T23:59:10.920Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Management of Evacuee Surge from a Disaster Area: Solutions to Avoid Non-Emergent, Emergency Department Visits

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 June 2012

Charlene B. Irvin  and
Jenny G. Atas
Charlene B. Irvin*
Affiliation:
Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan, USA
Jenny G. Atas
Affiliation:
Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan, USA
*
Charlene Irvin 50572 Jefferson Ave.New Baltimore, Michigan 48047USA E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Introduction:

Many emergency departments (EDs) in the United States experience daily overcrowding, and a rapid influx of evacuees fleeing a disaster area can pose a substantial burden. Some of these evacuees may require ED care. However, others lack an alternative to the ED to address non-emergent medical concerns (prescription refills or outpatient referral).

Objective:

The objective of this study was to describe a successful multidisciplinary Hurricane Katrina Evacuation Center, explain the services offered, and determine the center's effects on referrals to local EDs.

Methods:

Data were collected concerning the number of patients utilizing the medical evaluation center and compared to the total number of evacuees to determine the proportion that utilized medical care. The data concerning patients given prescriptions was obtained by the estimation of the two medical directors of the Center, and therefore, is inexact.

Results:

During the five weeks the center was operational, 631 of 716 evacuees (88%) requested medical evaluation, and >80% of those had prescriptions written. Only four (<1%) patients were transported to local EDs.

Conclusion:

An evacuee evaluation center provides a convenient non-ED alternative for evacuees to address their non-emergent medical concerns and can be used to ease their transition to a new location.

Keywords

evacueesmanagementmedical screeningnon-emergentreception center
Type
Special Report
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 22 , Issue 3 , June 2007 , pp. 220 - 223
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Fernandez, LS, Byrad, D, Lin, CC, Benson, S, Barbera, JA: Frail elderly as disaster victims: Emergency management strategies. Prehosp Disast Med 2002;17(2):67–74.Google Scholar
2.Benson, M, Koenig, KL, Schultz, CH: Disaster triage: START, then SAVE—A new method of dynamic triage for victims of a catastrophic earthquake. Prehosp Disast Med 1996;11(2):117–124.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3.Zibulewsky, J: Defining disaster: The emergency department perspective. Proc (Bayl Univ Med Cent). 2001;14(2):144–149. Available at http://www.pubmedcentral. gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed//www.fema.gov/nims/ Accessed 05 October 2005.Google ScholarPubMed
5. Homeland Security Presidential Directive/HSPD-5. Available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/02/20030228-9.html, Accessed 28 February 2003.Google Scholar
6. Emergencies and Disasters, Hurricane Katrina:What government is doing. Available at http://www.dhs.gov/interweb/assetlibrary/katrina.htm. Accessed 01 March 2006.Google Scholar