GPS Devices in a Simulated Mass Casualty Event

The aim of this study was to assess the staff perception of a global positioning system (GPS) as a patient tracking tool at an emergency department (ED) receiving patients from a simulated mass casualty event.

During a regional airport disaster drill a plane crash with 46 pediatric patients was simulated. Personnel from airport fire, municipal fire, law enforcement, emergency medical services, and emergency medicine departments were present. Twenty of the 46 patient actors required transport for medical evaluation, and we affixed GPS devices to 12 of these actors. At the hospital, ED staff including attending physicians, fellows and nurses working in the ED during the time of the drill accessed a map through an application that provided real-time geolocation of these devices. The primary outcome was staff reception of the GPS device as assessed via Likert scale survey after the event. The secondary outcomes were free text feedback from staff and event debriefing observations.

Queried registered nurses, attending physicians, and pediatric emergency medicine fellows perceived the GPS device as an advantage for patient care during a disaster. The GPS device allowed multiple-screen real-time tracking and improved situational awareness in cases with and without EMS radio communication prior to arrival at the hospital.

ED staff reported that the use of GPS trackers in a disaster improved real-time tracking and could potentially improve patient management during a mass casualty event.