| Objective. The purpose of this project is to understand the Emergency Medical Service (EMS) hospitals of various cities and counties within Taiwan area, how they plan to carry out providing field hospitals and temporary shelters to accommodate massive patients in and out of hospitals.;Discussion. In Taiwan, the Emergency Medical Service System has been promoted for ten years. The planning and ability of massive patient care have had a tremendous improvement. However, for the disaster within the hospital, the preparation about planning a field hospital and temporary shelter is not enough, especially when the hospitals cannot function well. The data obtained showed that only half of hospitals (40 hospitals) had a paper plan for field hospitals and temporary shelters planning. According to the evaluation, the regional hospital with the highest score had a good demonstration because of the participation of a great number of hospital staffs and their flexible responses. On the other hand, the lowest score was acquired by a regional hospital because of the shortage of human resources and its lack of strong leadership.;Conclusions and suggestions. The site of a field hospital and temporary shelter should consider the characteristics of convenience, practicality, safety and flexibility. The functional area should include a command post, sections of triage, wound investigation, treatment, operation, laboratory examination, and a medical facility keeping and provision area, a family resting area, bathroom and food supply area, etc. Especially, the flow of the functional line must be well organized. In order to establish the function of the field hospital and temporary shelter, we encourage the hospitals to obtain all available resources, and make good communication and coordination with the suppliers. The items of the Hospital Evaluation would directly impact the hospital leadership strategy and development direction. Field hospital and temporary shelter planning, however, is not included in the Hospital Evaluation. Therefore, we suggest the Department of Health (DOH) make it an item in the Hospital Evaluation, so as to encourage and persuade the hospitals to set up a plan for field hospital and temporary shelter. (Abstract shortened by UMI.). |
