By Gregory Ward The recent disasters have shown that the care units may have to evacuate their patients from time to time. The patients in...

A Synopsis On NICU Evacuation Propositions

By Gregory Ward


The recent disasters have shown that the care units may have to evacuate their patients from time to time. The patients in the intensive care unit are medically vulnerable and will require specialized expertise and equipment to move them. NICU evacuation is a difficult process, and if not handled by trained personnel, it can result in more disaster. Hence, it becomes essential to have the Neonatal Intensive Care unit staff well-trained. The training should involve how to handle the patients and the right equipment to use. Consider some of the requirements to carry out the evacuation as discussed in the article.

Agreements ought to be made between different parties. For instance, an agreement should be between the hospital with the incident and other healthcare facilities. This ensures that the patients are received in these facilities without compromise. Again, an agreement between the hospital and transport agencies is vital to confirm that proper transport services will be available during this critical time.

Having proper equipment for this procedure is paramount. Hence, hospitals must be well-equipped and train their staff on disaster preparedness. The training will help the faculty to undertake the crucial methods that will facilitate proper and safe removal of the patients from the facility. On the ground, a leader needs to coordinate this process by categorizing the patients and communicate with the receiving facilities about the process.

The governing authority must be included. This means that a reliable mechanism of communication ought to be established to confirm that communication is available. The bodies in governance are responsible for giving orders on evacuation and the right time to carry out the procedure. The rules are necessary and must be delivered on time to avoid obstruction in the transportation sector. Timing should include when to transport the NICU ill patients before the other patients.

Ventilators with uninterrupted electric power and oxygen flow should be available for patients with respiratory problems. This is to make sure that their function is maintained during the evacuating period and while in the shelter. The equipment must be portable and able to run on a low flow of oxygen. These machines ought to be easy to operate and safe for both the staff and patients.

If there is ample time for removing patients, a reasonable procedure should be developed. The method can involve transporting the more seriously sick patients before transporting patients who are less ill. This way, it will be easy to carry. Furthermore, the plan makes it simple and useful for receiving infirmaries to find a suitable location for each group of patients.

The preparation of the patient in the intensive care unit must be done before the hospital to hospital transfer. It should include diagnostic procedures, initial stabilization, medical interventions, and damage control techniques to make sure that any change during transportation can be addressed.

The medical details of a patient ought to be available in the receiving end. This is to confirm that the receiving hospitals can continue caring for the received patients. If an electronic record is not available, the hospital must produce a paper record containing the problem list and patient identification. This way, it becomes easy to handle patients.




About the Author:



0 comments: