“Are we ready?” Five Questions to Ask Your Hospital Before Disaster Strikes

Chlorine gas leaks after a train-car derailment. Radiation contaminates the community when an industrial accident occurs. A levy breaks, washing through every refinery and industrial plant and polluting all the water. Terrorists attack. Pandemic flu strikes.
When large numbers of people in your community are very sick, the last thing you want is for your hospital to be incapacitated as well. In America, any hospital or emergency room is considered a “first receiver.” That is, in the event of any kind of a healthcare disaster or mass casualty event, they would be the first to receive patients. Therefore, hospitals must be able to work as health care providers and, to some degree, as hazardous materials (hazmat) operators. But setting up hazmat operations can c View the rest of this article