- Incident Command Center and Civilian Volunteers

AbstractDuring a military exercise in northern Norway in March 2000, the snowladen roof of a command center collapsed with 76 persons inside. Twentyfive persons were entrapped and/or buried under snow masses. There were three deaths. Seven patients had serious injuries, three had moderate injuries, and 16 had minor injuries.A military Convalescence Camp that had been set up in a Sports Hall 125 meters from the scene was reorganized as a causality clearing station. Officers from the Convalescence Camp initially organized search and rescue. In all, 417 persons took part in the rescue work with 36 ambulances, 17 helicopters, three ambulance airplanes and one transport plane available. Two ambulances, five helicopters and one transport aircraft were used. Four patients were evacuated to a civilian hospital and six to a field hospital.The stretcher and treatment teams initially could have been more effectively organized. As resources were ample, this was a mass casualty, not a disaster. Firm incident command prevented the influx of excess resources.

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Integration of the Hospital Emergency Incident Command System (HEICS) into the Design of the Command Center at Bridgeport Hospital

Prehospital and Disaster Medicine ◽

10.1017/s1049023x00015764 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 20 (S3) ◽

pp. s170-s171

Author(s):

Christine Winn ◽

Ernest Jalbert ◽

Mark Tepping ◽

Patrick Schmincke

Keyword(s):

Hospital Emergency ◽

Incident Command System ◽

Incident Command ◽

Command Center

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Elements of an Effective Incident Command Center

Mayo Clinic Proceedings ◽

10.1016/j.mayocp.2020.06.026 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 95 (9) ◽

pp. S3-S7

Author(s):

Pritish K. Tosh ◽

Colin M. Bucks ◽

John C. O’Horo ◽

Erin S. DeMartino ◽

Jay M. Johnson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Incident Command ◽

Command Center

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Outbreak ofSalmonella javianaInfection at a Children's Hospital

Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology ◽

10.1086/506483 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 27 (6) ◽

pp. 586-592 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Alexis Elward ◽

Autumn Grim ◽

Patricia Schroeder ◽

Patricia Kieffer ◽

Patricia Sellenriek ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Tertiary Care ◽

Incident Command ◽

Hospital Employees ◽

Children's Hospital ◽

Control Subjects ◽

Large Outbreak ◽

Children’S Hospital ◽

Index Subject ◽

Control Study ◽

Command Center

Objective.To determine the source of an outbreak of Salmonella javiana infection.Design.Case-control study.Participants.A total of 101 culture-confirmed cases and 540 epidemiologically linked cases were detected between May 26, 2003, and June 16, 2003, in hospital employees, patients, and visitors. Asymptomatic employees who had eaten in the hospital cafeteria between May 30 and June 4, 2003, and had had no gastroenteritis symptoms after May 1, 2003, were chosen as control subjects.Setting.A 235-bed academic tertiary care children's hospital.Results.Isolates from 100 of 101 culture-confirmed cases had identical pulsed-field gel electrophoresis patterns. A foodhandler with symptoms of gastroenteritis was the presumed index subject. In multivariate analysis, case subjects were more likely than control subjects to have consumed items from the salad bar (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 5.3; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.3-12.1) and to have eaten in the cafeteria on May 28 (aOR, 9.4; 95% CI, 1.8-49.5), May 30 (aOR, 3.6; 95% CI, 1.0-12.7), and/or June 3 (aOR, 4.0; 95% CI, 1.4-11.3).Conclusions.Foodhandlers who worked while they had symptoms of gastroenteritis likely contributed to the propagation of the outbreak. This large outbreak was rapidly controlled through the use of an incident command center.

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Development of evaluation modules for use in hospital disaster drills

American Journal of Disaster Medicine ◽

10.5055/ajdm.2007.0016 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

pp. 87-95 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Mollie W. Jenckes, MHSc, BSN ◽

Christina L. Catlett, MD ◽

Edbert B. Hsu, MD, MPH ◽

Karen Kohri ◽

Gary B. Green, MD, MPH ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Disaster Response ◽

Healthcare Providers ◽

Physical Space ◽

Mass Casualty ◽

Lessons Learned ◽

Evaluation Tool ◽

General Observation ◽

Incident Command ◽

Structure Communication ◽

Command Center

Introduction: Disaster drills are a valuable means of training healthcare providers to respond to mass casualty incidents resulting from acts of terrorism or public health crises. We present here a proposed hospital-based disaster drill evaluation tool that is designed to identify strengths and weaknesses of hospital disaster drill response, provide a learning opportunity for disaster drill participants, and promote integration of lessons learned into future responses. Methods: Clinical specialists, experienced disaster drill coordinators and evaluators, and experts in questionnaire design developed the evaluation mod-ules based upon a comprehensive review of the litera-ture, including evaluations of disaster drills. The tool comprises six evaluation modules designed to capture strengths and weaknesses of different aspects of hospital disaster response. The Predrill Module is completed by the hospital during drill planning and is used to define the scope of the exercise. The Incident Command Center Module assesses command structure, communication between response areas and the command center, and communication to outside agencies. The Triage Zone Module captures the effect of a physical space on triage activities, efficiency of triage operations, and victim flow. The Treatment Zone Module assesses the relation of the zone’s physical characteristics to treatment activities, efficacy of treatment operations, adequacy of supplies, and victim flow. A Decontamination Zone Module is available for evaluating decontamination operations and the use of decontamination and/or personal protective equipment in drills that involve biological or radiological hazardous materials. The Group Debriefing Module provides sample discussion points for drill participants in all types of drills. The tool also has addenda to evaluate specifics for 1) general observation and documentation, 2) victim tracking, 3) biological incidents, and 4) radiological incidents. Conclusion: This evaluation tool will help meet the need for standardized evaluation of disaster drills. The modular approach offers flexibility and could be used by hospitals to evaluate staff training on response to natural or man-made disasters.

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Refining the Hospital Incident Command System to improve Hospital Command Center management of survey activity

Journal of Emergency Management ◽

10.5055/jem.2012.0122 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (6) ◽

pp. 449

Author(s):

Alfred A. Villacara, DMD ◽

Eliot J. Lazar, MD ◽

Brian K. Regan, PhD

Keyword(s):

Literature Review ◽

Joint Commission ◽

Incident Command System ◽

Incident Command ◽

Improve Hospital ◽

Outstanding Result ◽

Command Center

The “Survey Command Structure” initiative refines and streamlines the Hospital Incident Command System (HICS) structure to more effectively guide a hospital’s management of regulatory survey activity. This newly developed structure retains the hallmark features that make HICS effective but sees the addition of some new roles along with the editing or elimination of others. A literature review reveals no other hospitals undertaking similar initiatives to address survey management. The structure directly contributed to an outstanding result with the most recent Joint Commission survey. Hospitals should embrace this updated structure to allow for improved response to a myriad of regulatory surveys.

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Applying Telepresence to Incident Management: The Virtual Incident Command Center

Presence Teleoperators & Virtual Environments ◽

10.1162/pres.17.3.231 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 17 (3) ◽

pp. 231-241 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Julius S. Gyorfi ◽

Eric R. Buhrke ◽

Mark A. Tarlton ◽

Juan M. Lopez ◽

George T. Valliath

Keyword(s):

Virtual Environments ◽

Management Systems ◽

Incident Management ◽

Prototype System ◽

Management Problem ◽

National Guidelines ◽

Incident Command ◽

Management Domain ◽

Future Plans ◽

Command Center

This paper describes an application of telepresence technology to the incident management domain. The system combines national guidelines for incident management with many aspects of collaborative virtual environments to enable effective communication between first responders in the field and remotely located command personnel. A brief overview of existing incident management systems is given, followed by a set of requirements for future systems. We then describe our virtual incident command center (VICC) prototype, explain how it addresses the requirements, and outline our future plans. Finally, we report feedback from ongoing demonstrations of the prototype system that supports our contention that VICC represents a unique solution to the incident management problem.

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