A regional burn center's response to a disaster: September 11, 2001, and the days beyond

Abstract

This report reviews the response of a regional burn center to the disaster that occurred in New York City at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. In addition, it assesses that response in the context of other medical institutions in the region. There were facilities in the region that had 120 burn care beds; only two-thirds of the burn-injured patients who required hospital admission were admitted to designated burn centers, and only 28% of burn-injured victims initially were triaged to regional burn centers. The care rendered at this center was made possible by a "disaster-ready" facility and supplementation of personnel from the resources provided by The National Disaster Medical System. The patient outcomes at this center exceeded that as predicted by logistic regression analysis.