Major incident patient evacuation: full-scale field exercise feasibility study.

Area of Science:

• Emergency Medicine
• Disaster Management
• Pre-hospital Care

Background:

• Efficient patient transportation is critical for major incident management.
• The Norwegian Air Ambulance Foundation developed the Optimal Patient Evacuation Norway (OPEN) system to address the lack of standardized, field-friendly multiple casualty management.
• OPEN aims to enhance speed, patient care, hypothermia prevention, and scene management during major incidents.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the feasibility of the Optimal Patient Evacuation Norway (OPEN) concept in full-scale major incident field exercises.
• To assess the impact of the OPEN system on patient evacuation times and interdisciplinary cooperation.

Main Methods:

• Two standardized bus crash field exercises were conducted with emergency service personnel, one without and one with the OPEN system.
• Patient evacuation completion times were recorded by instructors.
• A self-report study using a 7-point Likert scale assessed participants' experiences before and after the training.

Main Results:

• 31% of 93 participants reported stretchers could be available within 30 minutes in their area.
• Participants reported significantly improved interdisciplinary cooperation for patient evacuation after the OPEN course (mean 5.8 vs. 5.4, P < .001).

Conclusions:

• The Optimal Patient Evacuation Norway (OPEN) system is a feasible and time-efficient method for standardizing patient transport during major incidents.
• OPEN shows potential as a future national standard for major incident patient evacuation.