Mass patient Incidence

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I'm working on my seminar for class, and it is about disaster preparedness for nursing. The one question asks about mass patient incidence and what it is. I've looked online and through all my text books. I think it means more patients then the healthcare team is able to handle. However, I'm still not clear. If anyone could respond. I would appreciate it.

Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
Having worked in disaster recovery before I became a nurse, I hate to say it, but people have a very short "disaster memory." For the first hurricane, the first hurricane season after a big one, the first fire after a disastrous fire season, people prepare, react, etc. Then, nothing happens for a while. People start saying, "well, we can't really budget for that," they do just in time inventory (which I call "run out of everything at the same time" inventory). You'd think after a Hugo or Andrew or Katrina that nobody'd rebuild in an area that's so likely to get hit again, or they'd make the building codes so tough that new construction could survive. But look what happened. Construction and building companies complained that stronger building codes would make home too expensive for anyone to be able to buy, so they were softened. The original post 9/11 recommendations were that any backup site be at least 150 miles away from the primary; well, people said that was too far, so it was scaled back (DOD ops, banks, etc.).

The one truth of human history is that people don't learn from history, and endlessly repeat it.

I know....but one can always hope......:smokin:

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i hope we learned something after katrina and those patients should have been moved outside of new orleans. hospitals repetatively try to keep "business as usual" in the face of massive hurricanes endangering staff and patients unnecesarily......even though evacuation can be a separate nightmare in and of itself.

i think about joplin ms after the tornado this year. what a horror show that must have been! :uhoh3:

my cousin lives in joplin. she was 7 months pregnant at the time of the tornado. the extreme makeover home edition is building 7 homes this week (her 2 older sisters-twins, one a nurse- are there now- one sent a photo of the sod she laid :)).

the devastation was indescribable. and, while my cousin and her husband were safe (and the pregnancy produced a beautiful baby girl :)), she was sort of "blank" for a while. the one hospital was essentially leveled but still vertical if that makes any sense. but, a lot of people have been helping with rebuilding and emergency supplies (fwiw, if you're ever asked to donate diapers, size 3 is the most popular- lol.... they need more 1, 2, and 4s :D.... and don't send the stuff from under the bathroom sink that expired in the late 70s :eek:....saw some photos of very interesting 'donations').

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
My cousin lives in Joplin. She was 7 months pregnant at the time of the tornado. The Extreme Makeover Home Edition is building 7 homes THIS week (her 2 older sisters-twins, one a nurse- are there now- one sent a photo of the sod she laid :)).

The devastation was indescribable. And, while my cousin and her husband were safe (and the pregnancy produced a beautiful baby girl :)), she was sort of "blank" for a while. The one hospital was essentially leveled but still vertical if that makes any sense. But, a lot of people have been helping with rebuilding and emergency supplies (FWIW, if you're ever asked to donate diapers, size 3 is the most popular- LOL.... they need more 1, 2, and 4s :D.... and don't send the stuff from under the bathroom sink that expired in the late 70s :eek:....saw some photos of very interesting 'donations').

I have been through a couple of tornadoes and one recently here in MA althought we recieved no damage but we could see it. I can just imagine the devestation as I have seen it first hand. I undersgtand that "blank" feeling as your mind tries to regroup and grasp the enormity of what happened. But could you imagine being at work before, during and after that mess.......I was devestated for them. I have evacuated a facility before and prepared another for evacuation that never hapened I had nightmares for them...

BTW... Where do I send stuff to to be sure it gets to them....?

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I have been through a couple of tornadoes and one recently here in MA althought we recieved no damage but we could see it. I can just imagine the devestation as I have seen it first hand. I undersgtand that "blank" feeling as your mind tries to regroup and grasp the enormity of what happened. But could you imagine being at work before, during and after that mess.......I was devestated for them. I have evacuated a facility before and prepared another for evacuation that never hapened I had nightmares for them...

BTW... Where do I send stuff to to be sure it gets to them....?

I'll see what I can find out from the twins. (they're still kids to me- LOL) I'll PM any addresses :) Thanks :up:

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
I'll see what I can find out from the twins. (they're still kids to me- LOL) I'll PM any addresses :) Thanks :up:

Awesome....I lost everything in a house fire a few years ago and some of the "publice donations" never get to those who need it...the victims.

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