Date Published: 7 April 2009

How Hospitals Can Make Beds Available for Disaster Victims

Two new studies published today in the American Medical Association's (AMA) Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness journal suggest that sufficient hospital capacity during a disaster can be achieved through evaluating resources and discharging non-critical patients.

?Making hospital beds available for victims of a mass emergency may be easier than once thought,”said study lead author Gabor D. Kelen M.D., professor of emergency medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. ?Reverse triage, which is a system to create more inpatient hospital beds by discharging non-critical patients, can significantly increase surge capacity without a corresponding increase in resources.?

A related study suggests that refining and standardizing definitions of surge capacity relating to space, staffing, and supply concerns help implement surge capacity strategies for hospitals and health facilities during a mass casualty incidence.

?There is currently no accepted protocol for a detailed, phased way to increase hospital space during a disaster,”said John L. Hick, M.D., associate professor of emergency medicine at the University of Minnesota and physician at Hennepin County Medical Center. ?Surge capacity is affected by many variables, so systems and processes are critical to support surge-capacity decision making.?

About the American Medical Association
The American Medical Association helps doctors help patients by uniting physicians nationwide to work on the most important professional and public health issues. Working together, the AMA's quarter of a million physician and medical student members are playing an active role in shaping the future of medicine. For more information on the AMA, please visit www.ama-assn.org.

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