Citation

Ventura GM. Disaster Med. Public Health Prep. 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

George Washington University, Washington, DC.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Publisher Cambridge University Press)

DOI

10.1017/dmp.2020.92

PMID

32406362

Abstract

The aim of this study was the development of a decision-support tool capable of identifying the most appropriate transportation and local area coalition bed space (resources) for patient evacuations during a crisis. Introduction of the new concept of dichotomous tables and how they are incorporated into the Patient Evacuation Resource Classification (PERC) system. The methods used were Systems Engineering fundamentals to conduct a requirements analysis of the process, develop a new construct guided by functional analysis, design an evidence-based model that accurately identifies patient resource requirements translatable to resource capabilities, and create a prototype for a proof of concept. Research resulted in the PERC system prototype. The PERC system prototype created by this research allows for system testing under a Solomon four-group design simulation with the participation of leading medical, emergency response, academic, consulting industry, and logistics professionals from the Washington, DC, metropolitan area.

Language: en

Keywords

decision-support tool; patient evacuation; situational awareness