Lehren aus einer Rettungsdienstübung mit mehr als 500 Betroffenen ; Lessons learned from an MCI 500 exercise
Objectives: In the framework of a national research project called SOGRO, funded by the German government, we run a full scale exercise with 550 casualties on Frankfurt aiport. The goal was the evaluation of medical disaster management supported by electronic triage.Methods: The exercise was run in real time. According to triage category, the proportional distribution of the 550 casualties were 100 red, 150 yellow and 300 green. All patient from the triage category red and yellow were transferred to the 16 hospitals in Frankfurt. No medical treatment was initiated inside the hospitals. Once the patients reached the hospital, the triage results from the field were compared to the electronic results send in long time before the patient reached the hospital. At the scene of the accident, main goal was to get a complete overview as fast as possible and to transfer these data's to dispatch center, hospitals, fire brigade, health authorities and police. Medical treatment according to the attached status, was not deemed as necessary, triage was done by 15 paramedics equipped with a PDA and RFID wristbands. Results: The electronic triage shortened the triage time, so that it took only 37 min. to get a complete overview of the scene. The first patient category red was transported after 42 min., 2.5 hours after the start all 250 patients (red and yellow) had reached the hospitals. Because of the enormous amount of patients arriving at the evacuation area, it was very difficult to stay on top at all time. Conclusion: Electronic triaging is absolutely capable of shortening the triage time and if done correctly reduces mistakes in choosing the right triage category. Hosted on the internet all .players receive necessary and updated information in a very early state which has not been the case before.
