A hospital can continue to function during a disaster or terrorist attack if a Hospital Emergency Response Team (HERT) protects the facility by the establishing and staffing of an Emergency Treatment Area. For the first time, here is an entire text dedicated to developing a free-standing operational team capable of protecting the healthcare center and its employees. This unit, if properly designed, is mobile enough to operate at a remote site, offering services to less prepared facilities. Not only does the hospital gain operational capacity by creating such a team, it also goes a long way toward meeting JCAHO’s accreditation requirements.
This book covers information that in an emergency is crucial to emergency medical service personnel and hospital staff in the emergency department, nursing, clinician, and other technical or support positions. It is also required reading for community public safety personnel and those charged with community-level planning, allowing them to better understand hospital capabilities and needs in times of disaster.