Avian Flu---Time's A-Tickin'...Part 9

This is our 9th posting in a series to help share information about Avian flu. The next few weeks will provide an overview of how a hospital might plan for Patient Surge. All information provided is only draft information and may vary depending on the particular situation an individual hospital might find itself in.

A Patient Surge Plan may be lengthy. Here is a brief overview of some of the possible elements.

Level One Patient Surge: Warning Level

When the first patient that has a suspected case of the pandemic flu is admitted, a hospital may initiate its Level One Patient Surge Plan. It should expect that one patient will lead to many more very rapidly. To be ready for the influx, each department will have specific things to do.

For example, critical care units will assess all their patients for pending transfers and patients that are appropriate will get orders. Those orders for transfer will be identified with a Code Surge identification stamp for priority handling. Acute care units will have a similar process, but with an eye for patients that can be discharged. If a patient meets certain criteria for discharge, they may be asked to wait in a unit waiting room until their discharge process is completed. The plan should have specific criteria to define who may give up their patient room during the discharge process.

Another key element may describe the flow of patients from the Emergency Departments (ED) to the nursing units. It makes sense to anticipate that the EDs will be the first areas impacted by the increase in patients. ED surge should then be part of the overall plan and is partially dependent on moving patients from the ED to the nursing units quickly. The rapid transfer from ED to the acute care units may include the arrival of the patient from ED some 15 minutes after ED report. Patients may have to be moved from the ED into patient rooms that have been given rapid "emergency cleaning measures". Worst case scenario: the patient may have to be moved in even if patient room is not "clean". In this case, the patient on the stretcher will be placed in the empty room. The nursing staff will disinfect wipe the call light and the phone and make them available for the patient. The bed may be placed in hall for housekeeping to clean if necessary.

Next Week: Overview Level Two Patient Surge