Summary

This document details an emergency operations plan (EOP) for handling mass casualty situations and disaster nursing. It covers community characteristics, pharmaceutical stockpiles, and the National Incident Management System (NIMS). It also includes triage procedures for different injury levels.

Full Transcript

**Ch. 68 - Terrorism, Mass Casualty, and Disaster Nursing, pg. 5826** **Emergency Operations Plan (EOP)** - Emergency Operations Plan: means of standardizing planning, protocols, procedures already in place for major events. - **Mass Casualty:** situation in which the number of casual...

**Ch. 68 - Terrorism, Mass Casualty, and Disaster Nursing, pg. 5826** **Emergency Operations Plan (EOP)** - Emergency Operations Plan: means of standardizing planning, protocols, procedures already in place for major events. - **Mass Casualty:** situation in which the number of casualties exceeds/overwhelms the number of available resources - Healthcare Facilities must be prepared for any type of disaster - Need to maintain constant state of "preparedness" - Planning ensures appropriate and timely response within shortest possible time frame - **Community Characteristics:** a part of an EOP, they look at resources, **population** (especially vulnerable populations) distribution/location of resources, weather emergencies, timely responses, most likely hazards, the ability to respond (ex: how many ambulances you may need for the situation) - These plans need to be based on the community \[different needs based on location\] - Pharmaceutical Stockpile: stock of supplies in case of emergency evaluated also -- specific chemical or biological agent - Especially antidotes for chemical & biological agents - Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA): essential for EVERY community and facility - **The National Incident Management System (NIMS)** - Guides all levels of government, nongovernmental organizations and the private sector to work together to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to and recover from incidents - NIMS guidelines are also followed for any other disaster situation, including natural disasters, outbreaks, epidemics, and pandemics \[book\]. - Follow through with recover from an event - Standardized codes to improve communication - Critical Institute of Risk Management: gives staff food, lets them rest, properly clothed, masked, etc. **EOP Components \[pg. 5837\]** - Activation response: determine where, how, and when the plan is activated - Ex: major weather event - Internal/External communication plan: clear communication is essential, must know whats going on - Ex: Parkwest gets 20 pt, UT Med gets 20 pts; ambulances are diverted to other hospitals (not PW or UTMC) - Coordinated patient care plan - Security plans: National Guard, KPD (local, state, federal) - Identification of external resources - Chart 68-1: FEMA, American Red Cross - A plan for people management and traffic flow - Coordinate media, extra personnel, center, equipment staging - **Data management strategy:** management if computers die and backup plans, must be able to track staffing - **A data management plan** for every aspect of the disaster will save time at every step. A backup system for documenting, tracking, and staffing is developed if the facility utilizes an electronic health record (book) - Demobilization response: must be a stated plan, resources shouldn't be unnecessarily exhausted, person making decision is clearly identified, residual effects considered before decision made - Corrective plan: a "hotwash", discuss all aspects of care/plan; essentially a debrief to update plan - Practice plan (organization should have regular drills to practice), Anticipated resources (food, water) - MCI plan \[mass casualty incident\]: planning for mass casualties and morgue readiness - Personnel must be educated for every part of the EOP **Initiating the EOP, pg. 5839** → ID pts, triage, communicate w/ media & family, and manage internal problems - **Triage, table 68-2 pg. 5842**: (do the most good for the most people in disaster triage, utilitarian) - **Red**/Immediate -- Life threatening but survivable with minimal intervention (priority \#1) - Ex: Sucking chest wound, airway obstruction secondary to mechanical cause, shock, hemothorax, tension pneumothorax, 15-40% burns on body surface (book) - **Yellow**/delayed -- Injuries are significant and require medical care but can wait hours without threat to life or limb (priority \#2) - Ex: soft tissue injuries, fractures requiring open reduction, débridement, and external fixation (book) - **Green**/minimal -- Injuries are minor and treatment can be delayed hours to days (priority \#3) - Ex: Upper extremity fractures, minor burns, sprains, small lacerations without significant bleeding (book) - **Black** (deceased/expectant) -- Injuries are extensive, and chances of survival are unlikely even with definitive care (book) - Ex: Patients who are unresponsive with penetrating head wounds, high spinal cord injuries, no pulse, **cardiac arrest,** 60% burns on body surface (book) - **White**/Involved -- no obvious injuries - **SALT: S**ort, **A**ssess, **L**ifesaving interventions, **T**reatment/**T**ransport - Developed to allow for rapid evaluation and sorting of patients of any age, injured in any type of event **Nurse's Role in Disaster Response Plans** - Maybe asked to do things outside their scope of practice - Exact role can be decided by facility based on needs - May question decisions regarding care of patients - Issues the nurse must deal with: - Rationing care, Consent, Duty, Confidentiality, Resuscitation, Assisted suicide - **Question ethics, chart 68-1, pg. 5848** **Short-term and Long-term Psychological Effects Post Disaster** - Listen and provide emotional support - Provide information as necessary and appropriate - Refer to outside resources for counseling - Talk to them about media coverage and exposure - Encourage them to return to normal activities - **Common effects, pg. 5852**: anxiety, depression, compassionate fatigue, interpersonal conflicts, impaired performance, PTSD, migraine HA, abdominal pain, SUD **Critical Incident Stress Management, pg. 5853 (CISM)** - Preventing and treating the emotional trauma that can affect emergency responders as a consequence of their job - Components of CISM - Education (preparedness before the incident occurs), Defusing, Debriefing, Demobilization, Follow-up - Field support: ensuring that staff get adequate rest, food, and fluids, and rotating workloads **Preparedness and Response** - Healthcare provider should have a heightened awareness of possible attack with toxic or infectious agents - **Onset of outbreak, epidemic, and pandemic:** - An unusual increase in the number of people seeking care for fever, respiratory, or gastrointestinal symptoms - Clusters of patients who present with the same unusual illness from a single location. - A large number of fatalities **Personal Protective Equipment, 5856 (PPE)** - Purpose → shield healthcare workers from the chemical, physical, biologic and radiologic hazards that may exist when caring for contaminated patients - **EPA (environmental protection agency) divided protective wear into four Levels A-D** - **Level A:** highest level of resp, skin, eye, and mucous membrane protection - Fully encapsulated, vapor tight, chemical-restraint suit, gloves & boots, self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA). - **Level B:** highest level of respiratory protection, but a lesser level of of skin & eye protection - Self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) and chemical-restraint suit but suit not vapor tight - **Level C:** for airborne - Air purifying respirator (which filters or sorbent material to remove harmful substances), chemical-restraint coverall & gloves, splash good, and boots - TYVEK suit - **Level D:** everyday wear/scrubs/uniform, other PPE such as gloves or mask may be required based on situation - **Chart 68-4, pg. 5857 (just talks abt the whole-process training ot improve use of PPE)** - **Decontamination**: the process of removing accumulated contaminants or rendering them harmless, is critical to the health and safety of health care providers by preventing secondary contamination. - Decontamination is vital for all patients/personnel prior to entering ED - First step: removal of the patients clothing and jewelry and then rinsing the patient with water - Second step: soap-and-water wash and rinse - Something you may have to worry about when decontaminating patients: is RUN off (water contains the contaminating agent) in the water **Natural Disasters, pg. 5861** - Natural disasters: tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, avalanches, tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions - Fire department or EMS are not consulted in tornadoes or hurricanes anymore - Potential Issues - Loss of communication, lack of drinkable food/water, exposure to elements (heat/cold), loss of medication, lack of sanitation/waste removal, vector control, loss of utilities/electricity, potentially dangerous animals (snakes, alligators), hypothermia, and removal of human and animal remains **Weapons of Terror, pg. 5864** - **Blast Injury**: Bombs used pipe bombs (MC), Molotov cocktails, fertilizer and dirty bombs - Pipe bombs: contain low-velocity explosives and may also contain nails or other implements - Molotov cocktail: flammable liquid (gas) in a glass bottle and source of ignition such as a rag - Fertilizer and dirty bombs: include a radioactive source that spreads radiation after the initial blast - **Blast waves have four effects. Table 68-4:** - **Primary injury:** results form initial blast of air wave - **Secondary injury:** results from debris from the scene or shrapnel from the bomb that act as projectiles - **Tertiary injury:** results from pressure wave that causes the victim to be thrown - **Quaternary**: results from preexisting conditions exacerbated by the force of the blast - Blast lung - Tearing of pulmonary tissue (lead to hemorrhage), air embolism, VQ mismatch - S/sx: dyspnea, hypoxia, tachypnea, apnea, cough, chest pain, hemodynamic instability - Tx: Require intubation & mechanical ventilation - If air embolism, prone and left lateral position and hyperbaric O2 tx - **Tympanic Membrane rupture** - Most frequent injury after subjection to a pressure wave - S/sx: hearing loss, tinnitus, pain, dizziness, and otorrhea - Majority of TM heal spontaneously - Abdominal Injury - Internal bleeding and organ damage - S/sx: bleeding, penetrating wound (cover w/ moist sterile dressing), N/V, abdominal pain, guarding, rebound tenderness, and rectal bleeding - Head injury is most common cause post-blast deaths that's usually caused by falling debris or blast itself - Special population: elderly (fractures, comorbidities), pregnant people (at risk for placental abruption), mobility disability - Ex: Warehouse explosion results in a patient who has an injury to forearm, one with BP is high, another with multiple fractures in right leg, and finally a pt with dyspnea and cyanosis, who will you see first? - Dyspnea and cyanotic pt because of ABC's **Biological Weapons, pg. 5868, table 68-5** - Biological weapons are weapons that spread disease among the general population or the military - Can be used for sabotage, such as food or water contamination with a small target area or may be used by global terrorists - **1/A:** High mortality (botulism, smallpox, ebola, plague, **Bacillus anthracis (anthrax**) - **2/B:** Low mortality but Moderate morbidity (ex: staph aureus, viral encephalitis, brucellosis) - **3/C:** Low mortality and Low morbidity, engineered agents that have potential for mass dissemination (ex: hantavirus) **Anthrax, pg. 5869** - Caused by Bacillus anthracis - Bacterium sporulates (i.e., is liberated) when exposed to air and is infective only in the spore form - Contact w/ infected animal or inhalation of spores - S/sx: three main methods of infection (skin contact, GI ingestion, and inhalation) - Cutaneous Lesion: erythema, edema, ulceration, & can develop painless eschar - **Ingestion: it can cause severe diarrhea (severe enough to reduce intravascular volume),** fever, N/V, maybe ascites - Inhalation: starts w/ flu-like sx of cough, HA, fever, vomiting, chills, weakness, dyspnea, hemoptysis, diaphoresis, cyanosis, stridor, hypoxia - Progresses after 1-3 days to severe sx of respiratory distress, hypotension & shock leading to death. - Treatment (w/in 24 hours of exposure) - Penicillin, Cirpofloxacin, Levofloxacin, Doxycycline - **Treat for 60 days** - No s/sx but exposed, OR cutaneous anthrax → Cipro/Doxy for 60 days - **Standard precautions**, does not spread person to person - After death, cremation is recommended because the spores can survive for decades and represent a threat to morticians - Mediastinum start hemorrhaging **Botulism, table 68-6** - Damages nerves ending in flaccid paralysis - Transmission: not person to person transmission; food borne - **VERY contagious (kahoot)** - S/sx: N/V/D, Dysphasia, diplopia, dysarthrias, blurred vision - Gradual paralysis in facial muscles then spreads - **Descending symmetric flaccid paralysis** - Mortality: deadliest toxin known (death due to respiratory failure) - Standard precautions, considered medical emergency - Tx: Supportive care (mechanical vent, nutrition (TPN), fluids) - Don't give aminoglycosides and clindamycin b/c they exacerbate neuromuscular blockade **Smallpox, pg. 5872** - **It is extremely contagious and spread by direct contact, by contact with clothing or linens, or by droplets** from person to person only after the fever has decreased and the rash phase has begun. it has an incubation period that ranges from 7-17 days - S/sx: fever, malaise, HA, backache & maculopapular rash (develops on face, mouth, pharynx & spreads to trunk/extremities over time, changes from vesicular to oozing pustule lesions) - Large amounts of virus in the saliva and pustules. - Tx: Isolation in negative pressure room, supportive care - **Strict airborne & contact precautions** - Linens should be autoclaved before washed, cremation is preferred for all deaths, b/c the virus can survive in scabs for up to 13 years. - Prevention: smallpox vaccine **Chemical Weapons, 5874** - Get in PPE, remove pt, Decon & don't want that water to get into the public water, then evacuate (once clean) - Agents: Nerve agents (sarin), Blood agents (cyanide), Vesicants (mustard gas), Pulmonary agents (chlorine) - Characteristics of the Chemicals - Volatility: tendency of chemical to become a vapor - Persistence: less likely to vaporize (mustard gas) - More likely to be absorbed via skin & mucous membranes - Toxicity: ability for the agent to cause harm - The **median lethal dose (LD 50)** is the amount of the chemical that will cause death in 50% of those who are exposed - Latency: time from absorption to the appearance of s/s - Prevention: limiting exposure to the agent, removal of the persons' clothing and decontamination as close to the scene as possible - **Vesicants, 5876** - Common agents: lewisite, phosgene, nitrogen mustards, and sulfur mustard - Cause blistering and result in burning - Can cause conjunctivitis, bronchitis, PNA, hematopoietic suppression, and death - Clinical Manifestations - Warm moist areas of the body will be burned, - **Skin will sting then small vesicle formation (blistering) 2-18 hours after** - Respiratory symptoms: Chest tightness, **cough, SOB, pharyngitis**, tachypnea, blurred vision, corneal ulcerations - Decontaminate with soap and water - Tx: dimercaprol administered IV for systemic toxicity and topically for skin lesions - **Nerve Agents, pg. 5877 → Sarin Gas** - MOA: a potent inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase, an enzyme that degrades the neurotransmitter acetylcholine - Sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system are activated **\[affects nicotinic & muscarinic receptors\]** - S/sx: diarrhea, sweating, urinary, bronchospasm, emesis, salvation, pruritus, painful burning, small vesicle formation, lacrimation (leads to paralysis) - Causes respiratory issues and ACTH doesn\'t work + pt will foam at mouth + diarrhea + bronchospasm - Symptoms of nerve gas exposure include all of the following? - Visual disturbances - Flaccid muscles - Nausea and vomiting - Treat: **Atropine**, Benzos (diazepam for seizure prevention) - **Antidote: Pralidoxime 1-2 g in 100 to 150 mL of NS** **Nuclear Radiation Exposure, pg. 5881** - Exposure to radiation is affected by time, distance and shielding - Radiation exposure is cumulative - Damage is dose dependant → Lead = protective measure - **Types of radiation** - **Alpha particles:** cannot penetrate the skin - **Beta particles:** have the ability to moderately penetrate the skin - **Gamma radiation**: very penetrating (ex: medical X-ray) - **Types of radiation-induced injury:** - External: not an emergency, local reaction - Radiation dermatitis from cancer radiation - Contamination: exposure to radiation in gas form, by liquid, or solids either externally or internally - Incorporation: physical reuptake into one\'s body tissues - The organs involved are usually the kidneys, bones, liver, reproductive organs (not in book), and thyroid glands - The longer a person is within the radiation area, the higher the exposure. Also, the larger the amount of radioactive material in the area, the greater the exposure - Desire: Shortest exposure w/ furthest distance \[to decrease amount of exposure\] - Radiation Decontamination - Triage & decontamination outside of hospital is the most effective means of preventing contamination of the facility itself - Decontamination happens outside the ED, wet and naked - Monitor runoff so that it does not contaminate clean areas - Strict isolation precautions: air ducts/vents sealed,cover floors - Double bag waste & label: red goes in radiation bins (yellow & magenta), contact radiation safety officer - Staff PPE: dosimeter worn, double gloves, mask, caps, eye protection, shoe covers. - Labs needed: CBCs, blood, urine, emesis, stool, may utilize gastric lavage with chelating agents (agents that bind with radioactive substances) - **Acute Radiation Syndrome (ARS), pg. 5884, table 68-8** - The hematopoietic system is the first system affected and serves as an indicator of the severity of radiation exposure - A predictor of outcome is the absolute lymphocyte count at 48 hours after exposure bc of bone marrow suppression. - Can occur after exposure to radiation, all body systems affected - DOSE DEPENDENT - S/sx: determine predicted survival - Bone marrow suppression: pancytopenia - Phases of effects of radiation exposure - Prodromal phase, latent phase, manifest illness phase, recovery phase, death - Probable survivors have no initial symptoms or only minimal - Usually need supportive care - Possible survivors present with N/V + pancytopenia - Blood products (to replace platelets), prevent infection, supportive care - Improbable present acutely ill and have N/V/D and shock - Lethal doses → neuro symptoms and death happens quickly (dies to to increased intracranial pressure)

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