Introduction: Although every hospital needs a security plan for the support of immobile patients who do not possess autonomous escape capabilities, little information exists to assist in the development of practical patient evacuation methods.
Hypothesis: 1) In hospitals during disasters, incident leadership of the fire authorities can be supported effectively by hospital executives experienced in the management of mass casualties; and 2) As an alternative for canvas carry sheets, rescue drag sheets can be employed for emergency, elevator-independent, patient evacuation.
Methods: A hospital evacuation exercise was planned and performed to obtain experiences in incident command and to permit calculation of elevator-independent patient transport times. Performance of incident leadership was observed by means of pre-defined checklists. The effectiveness and efficiency of carrying teams with five persons each were compared to those with a rescue drag sheet employed by a single person.
Results: Incident command for hospitals during a disaster is enhanced considerably by pre-defined and trained executives who are placed at the immediate disposal of the fire authorities. For elevator-independent patient transport, the rescue drag sheet was superior to conventional carrying measures because of a reduced number of transport personnel required to move each patient. With this method, patient transport times averaged 54 m/min. flat and 18 seconds for one floor descent.
Conclusion: Experiences from a hospital during an evacuation exercise provided decision criteria for changes in the disaster preparedness plan. Hospital incident leadership was assigned to executives-in-charge in close co-operation with the fire authorities. All beds were equipped with a rescue drag sheet. Both concepts may help to cope with an emergency evacuation of a hospital.