The Role of Hospital Medicine in Emergency Preparedness: A Framework for Hospitalist Leadership in Disaster Preparedness, Response, and Recovery

Abstract

Recent high-profile mass casualty events illustrate the unique challenges that such occurrences pose to normal hospital operations. These events create patient surges that overwhelm hospital resources, space, and staff. However, in most healthcare systems, hospitalists currently show no integration within emergency planning or incident response. This review aims to provide hospitalists with an overview of disaster management principles so that they can engage their hospitals' disaster management system with a working fluency in emergency management and the incident command system. This review also proposes a framework for hospitalist involvement in preparation, response, and coordination during periods of crisis.