Everybody was there, ready and waiting’
When an explosion happened at a nearby bean processing plant, the good news was that Mercy Medical Center in Sioux City, IA, was ready to handle the eight injured workers brought in for treatment. "It seemed to go smoothly," says Gail Schoenrock, patient access services manager. "There are people all over the hospital whose responsibility is to show up [in a disaster situation], and everybody was there, ready and waiting, as the ambulances pulled up. Everybody knew their job."
The disaster was "called" about 9 a.m., she adds, and the night registrar in the patient access department — who was working a couple of hours past her normal shift because of other staffing issues — stayed at her post. Other employees — those who had the day off or were scheduled to come in later — were called in, Schoenrock notes.
She went to the emergency department, where she readied the downtime slips — system-generated account numbers — that are used when the computer system is down or in the event of a disaster, when patients’ demographic information cannot be determined immediately. "To get started, to give care," Schoenrock adds, "we use the downtime [account] numbers so tests can be ordered. As the family arrives, or whatever, we get more of the demographics and insurance [information]."
One of the things that was apparent right away, she notes, was that two people were needed at the disaster command post, with one doing all the registration. "It doesn’t work to have more than one person registering," Schoenrock says. "It gets too confusing. And you need one person answering the phone so the [registrar] doesn’t have to stop and answer."
In this case, she filled the second role, Schoenrock says, which also included coordinating room assignments with bed control staff, and handling people who came to the registration window. People who were connected with the disaster situation were escorted back to a family waiting room, she says. "Otherwise, there were people at the door directing [nondisaster cases] to a separate registration booth and separate triage area."
In addition, Schoenrock notes, she distributed photocopies of explosion victims’ face sheets to the ambulance companies, and provided information to law enforcement officials. Copies of face sheets and downtime slips were placed in a "disaster basket" for the hospital administrative staff, she adds. "They came in to get those so they could keep track of who’s here, in case they need to do a news briefing, or if family members call."
When an explosion happened at a nearby bean processing plant, the good news was that Mercy Medical Center in Sioux City, IA, was ready to handle the eight injured workers brought in for treatment.
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