Citation

Chaffee MW. Nurs. Clin. North Am. 2005; 40(3): 565-77, x.

Affiliation

Graduate School of Nursing, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA. mwchaffee@aol.com

Copyright

(Copyright © 2005, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.cnur.2005.04.013

PMID

16112000

Abstract

The level of emergency preparedness in US hospitals is a concern in light of the steady threat of natural disasters, transportation and industrial accidents, and the possibility of terror attack resulting in mass casualties. The science of hospital emergency preparedness is in an early stage of development. For research to logically expand knowledge, an accurate assessment--or examination of the state of the science--is conducted to determine the current state of knowledge, gaps in knowledge, and opportunities for future research. Milsten reviewed the literature on hospital response to acute-onset disasters from 1977 to 1999. His review of 107 articles contains research studies, case studies,and lessons learned pieces largely published in the medical literature.Milsten's analysis provides a substantial starting point. This article examines Milsten's review, identifies articles that have been published that add to this knowledge base, and identifies additional phenomena of interest.

Language: en