Kathe M. Conlon, Burn Disaster and Emergency Preparedness Education Coordinator and Shawn Martin, Emergency Management Specialist, Saint Barnabas Health Care System
Abstract
Burn experts estimate that 20–30 per cent of injuries from mass casualty events result in serious burns, many requiring specialised care only available at burn centres. Yet, in the USA there are less then 1,850 burn beds available to provide such a level and quality of care. To address this concern, burn centres are beginning to put into practice new mass casualty triage and transport guidelines that must coordinate with local, regional and federal response plans, while still adhering to an accepted standard of care. This presentation describes how one US burn centre developed and implemented a Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) designed mass casualty incident (MCI) exercise focused on coordinating ‘the right patient to the right facility at the right time’, based upon acuity and bed availability. Discussion will enable planners to identify methodologies adaptable for incorporation into catastrophic emergency management operations within their regions.
Keywords
burns, disaster, exercise, planning, MCI, preparedness, resources
Kathe M. Conlon has been a burn disaster and emergency preparedness education coordinator at Saint Barnabas Health Care System, Office of Emergency Management, since 2008. Her responsibilities include development and implementation of burn disaster programmes statewide, focusing on scene stabilisation, medical management and patient transport. Past experience includes 19 years as a community clinical educator for Saint Barnabas Burn Foundation with 12 years as a staff member in the intensive care unit at The Burn Center at Saint Barnabas Medical Center. She also serves as a national faculty member for the American Burn Association’s Advanced Burn Life Support curriculum. Ms Conlon graduated from Seton Hall University College of Nursing, has a Certificate of Emergency Management from Kean University and, in 2010, completed a master’s degree in homeland security through Fairleigh Dickenson University. She is a charter member of New Jersey’s Task Force 1 and has responded to several large-scale incidents.
Shawn Martin is an emergency management specialist with the Saint Barnabas Health Care System. He has an extensive background in emergency management and provides technical assistance and support to the Saint Barnabas corporate and affiliate managers or designees during emergency events. He assists with the development and coordination of Saint Barnabas Health Care System’s response plans by integrating them with other federal, state and local government agencies. Mr Martin has completed the Master Exercise Practitioner Program through the Emergency Management Institute in Maryland and has prepared, written and directed multi-level exercises for local and state agencies since 2007. He is the designer of the SYS-Ex Series©, which is a progressive, capability-based exercise programme designed expressly for the healthcare industry. He is presently completing his bachelor’s degree in Homeland Security through Capella University.
If you wish to read the full text of the article you will need to subscribe.