Catalog

Abstract -- Although re-evaluation of Hospital Emergency Incident Command System (HEICS) plans revealed great improvement in Taipei, it still deserves further investigation whether the improvement continues. The other issue is the evidence on which the hospitals depend to revise their plans. Of the 53 plans, there were about 53 (100%) that had predictable chain of management, and the average score was 78+9 points (P=NS v 79+8 points for last version). As to accountability of position function, there were almost as many as plans that met with the criteria (n=32; 61% v 58%, P=NS) compared with last version, as the average score was (71+7 v 68+5, P=NS). The performance were better in the part of flexible organizational chart (n=31; 58% v 58%, P=NS) that allows flexible response to specific emergencies (average scores 78+20 v 68+13, P<0.05), improved documentation of facility (72+16 v 64+10, P<0.05) and also common language to facilitate outside assistance (80+18 v 60+6, P<0.01). Thirty-eight hospitals (71.7%) have provided prioritized response checklists, cost effective emergency planning within health care corporations, and complete governmental requirements (71.7% vs. 45.3%, P<0.001). The scores were thus 78+20, 83+21 and 76+19 points respectively. There were in average about 21+6% major changes in HEICS plans. The greatest change was in the part of accountability of position function (33+10%), followed by the part of flexible organizational chart improved documentation of facility and common language to facilitate outside assistance. In conclusion, there was still no sufficient data on which the hospitals modify their response plans. It is thus critical for all of these hospitals to implement principles of EBM into the revision of disaster response planning.