Special report. Dealing with disasters: what hospitals learned from recent crises

In times of crisis, hospitals are relied on to provide simultaneous emergency treatment to a large number of victims of natural disasters, accidents, or other traumatic events. Sometimes the hospital itself faces a crisis situation. Hospital officials recognize that the only way to continue providing patients with the best care possible in dire circumstances is through the activation of an effective disaster plan. "Disaster planning is something that cannot be planned enough," says Louis Gasbarro, president of the International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety (IAHSS) and security and safety director at Tampa General Hospital, Tampa, FL. "There's no such thing as over-planning or over-drilling. You must have a written plan known by all people, all departments, all personnel in the building. Everyone has to know their role." This special report will look at several events that brought an influx of patients to hospitals around the country, the disaster plans that were implemented, and what hospital officials learned from those experiences.