To structure the hospital’s preparation for an emergency, a fire at a large factory, while maintaining regular functioning, it is essential to implement an emergency operation plan as well as the incident command system set in place at the facility. Also, the responders at the scene should be notified about the approximate numbers of emergent, urgent, and non-urgent patients that the healthcare facility can accept to distribute patients equally across locations. Another step that would help prepare for the emergency is clearing as many ED patients as possible: transferring admitted patients to relevant departments and discharging non-urgent individuals. In regards to the resources used to prepare for the emergency, it is necessary to assess the number of staffed in-patient beds available at the hospital, monitor the disaster radio at the ED to have an update on the number of casualties, alert the blood bank regarding the potential incoming of high volumes of blood use, as well as assemble an incident command team to start the analysis of information.
Managing the situation with the explosion will be challenging without disrupting regular hospital functioning. However, the involvement of a team that is dedicated to crisis management specifically will be of great help. While nurses and other in-hospital personnel that is not involved in the team will care for their patients, the emergency response team will deal with the issues involved in the disaster. Therefore, the key to success, in this case, is defining responsibilities and dividing them between team members as necessary.