Major disasters like 9/11 and the Boston Marathon Bombing, initiates a crisis event that triggers a response by actors across the spectrum of society, such as government and private sector entities, nonprofit organizations, and citizen volunteers, to converge on the crisis event with goals of mitigating any active threats, stabilizing the scene, and saving lives. A critical component of the response effort is Emergency Medical Services (EMS), which plays a major role in providing initial medical treatment to victims, preparing them for transport, and evacuating them to hospitals for follow up treatment and care. Hospitals are also vital to the response effort, as they have the capacity to treat life threatening conditions, in order to
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121). Adelaine, Shoaf, and Harvey (2016) stated “The overriding problems fell into three categories: command, control, and communication” (p. 121). The authors indicated that 7,000 victims were transported during the event, which was done in a disorganized and inefficient manner. The authors went on to indicate that the disorganization and inefficiencies that transpired, were due to the decentralization of command and control from a centralized location, the Health Evacuation Center, to individual hospitals as a result of communications challenges. The lack of command and control lead to “large amounts of patients … [being] evacuated to a small number of hospitals, while other hospitals received very few patients” (Adelaine, Shoaf, & Harvey, 2016, p. 121). “This experience highlighted the need for hospitals to coordinate with a wide range of agencies (including … EMS …) to plan appropriately during disasters and make corrections and adjustments after disasters” (Adelaine, Shoaf, & Harvey, 2016, p.
121). Adelaine, Shoaf, and Harvey (2016) stated “The overriding problems fell into three categories: command, control, and communication” (p. 121). The authors indicated that 7,000 victims were transported during the event, which was done in a disorganized and inefficient manner. The authors went on to indicate that the disorganization and inefficiencies that transpired, were due to the decentralization of command and control from a centralized location, the Health Evacuation Center, to individual hospitals as a result of communications challenges. The lack of command and control lead to “large amounts of patients … [being] evacuated to a small number of hospitals, while other hospitals received very few patients” (Adelaine, Shoaf, & Harvey, 2016, p. 121). “This experience highlighted the need for hospitals to coordinate with a wide range of agencies (including … EMS …) to plan appropriately during disasters and make corrections and adjustments after disasters” (Adelaine, Shoaf, & Harvey, 2016, p.