Advanced Trauma Life Support ATLS Student Course Manual 2018

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APPENDIX D n Disaster Preparedness and Response
box d-1 key terminology used in disaster management
Acute Care The early care of disaster victims that
is provided in the field and/or in the hospital by
multidisciplinary trauma teams.
Area of Operations The geographic subdivision established
around a disaster site; only qualified disaster response
personnel are permitted entrance.
Casualty Collection Point (CCP) A safe location within the
external perimeter of the area of operations where patients
undergo triage and, if possible, initial resuscitation.
CBRNE Acronym for Chemical, Biological, Radiological,
Nuclear, and Explosive (including incendiary) agents.
Decontamination Corridor A fixed or deployable facility
for decontamination of contaminated patients. The
decontamination site is arranged in three zones: the hot
zone, the warm zone, and the cold zone.
Disaster A natural or human-made incident, whether
internal (originating inside the hospital) or external
(originating outside the hospital) in which the needs of
patients overwhelm the resources needed to care for them.
Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Emergency medical
responders, including emergency medical technicians
and paramedics, who provide prehospital care under
medical direction as part of an organized response to
medical emergencies.
Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Headquarters of
the Unified Command (UC), a coordinating center for the
multiple agencies/organizations or jurisdictions that are
involved in the disaster response. The EOC is established
in a safe location outside the area of operations, usually
at a fixed site, and staffed by representatives of the key
organizations involved in the disaster response.
Hazardous Materials (HAZMATs) Any materials (chemical,
biological, radioactive, or explosive agents) that pose
potential risks to human life, health, welfare, and safety.
Hazard Vulnerability Analysis (HVA) An analysis of the
probability and severity of the risks posed to a community’s
health and safety by various hazardous materials (industrial
mishaps, natural disasters, and weather systems).
Hospital Incident Command System (HICS) A modification
of the ICS for hospitals. (Hospitals typically adopt their own
versions of this system.)
Incident Command or Incident Commander (IC) The final
authority that sets objectives and priorities for the disaster
response and maintains overall responsibility for
the incident.
Incident Command Post Headquarters for incident
command at the disaster site, established in safe locations
within the area of operations.
Incident Command System (ICS) An organizational
structure that provides overall direction for management of
the disaster response.
Mass-casualty Event (MCE) An event causing numbers of
casualties large enough to disrupt the healthcare services of
the affected community/region.
Multiple-casualty Incident (MCI) A circumstance in which
patient care resources are overextended but
not overwhelmed.
Minimally Acceptable Care The lowest appropriate level
of lifesaving medical and surgical interventions (crisis
management care) delivered in the acute phase of
the disaster.
Mitigation Activities that healthcare facilities and
professionals undertake in an attempt to lessen the
severity and impact of a potential disaster. These include
establishing alternative sites for the care of mass
casualties, triage sites outside the hospital, and procedures
in advance of a disaster for the transfer of stable patients to
other medical facilities to allow for care of incoming
disaster victims.
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Special clothing and
equipment worn by disaster response personnel to avoid
self-contamination by HAZMATs.
Preparedness Activities that healthcare facilities and
providers undertake to build capacity and identify resources
that may be used if a disaster occurs.
Recovery Activities designed to assist health care facilities
and professionals resume normal operations after a disaster
situation is resolved.
Response Activities that healthcare facilities and
professionals undertake in providing crisis management care
to patients in the acute phase of the disaster.
Search and Rescue (SAR) Teams of medical and nonmedical
experts trained to locate, rescue, and perform initial
medical stabilization of disaster victims trapped in
confined spaces.
Surge Capability The extra assets (personnel and
equipment) that can be deployed in a disaster (e.g.,
ventilators with adequate critical care staff to care
for patients).
Surge Capacity Extra assets (personnel and equipment) that
potentially can be used in mass-casualty event without
consideration of the essential supporting assets (e.g.,
excess ventilators without adequate staff to actually care
for patients).
Unified Command (UC) A single coordinated incident
command structure that allows all organizations responding
to the disaster to work under a single command structure.
Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) Hazardous materials
used, or intended to be used, for the explicit purpose of
harming or destroying human life.
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