BMH question
- Thread starter nvycat14
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ER only taking critical patients.
n3zra
Member
Here is a more detailed outline of hospital status used in the commonwealth for ED status by EMS providers.
Condition Green: The Emergency Department is open with no restrictions
Condition Yellow: The Emergency Department is busy but not overwhelmed. Patients presenting to the Emergency Department via EMS may experience significant delays in treatment due to the current volume and/or acuity of patients already in the Emergency Department. EMS personnel should inform the patient of this situation and consider transporting the patient to another facility if the patient consents.
This condition automatically terminates in 4 hours unless renewed.
Condition Red: All of the usually available resources in the Emergency Department are overwhelmed such that receipt of additional patients will result in the inability to care for them safely. Patients may not be brought to the Emergency Department unless EMS personnel perceive the patient to be suffering from an immediately life-threatening illness or injury.
This condition automatically terminates in 2 hours unless renewed.
Condition Black: A hospital/facility may be reported in "Condition Black" when an emergency situation or catastrophic event exists that renders the entire facility as being unsafe. Examples of such events include but are not limited to: Fire, explosion, bomb threat, gun fire, nuclear/biological/chemical incidents, etc.
No patients shall be transported to facilities that are reported as in "CONDITION BLACK"
Source: Hospital Status monitor at EMS.org
Condition Green: The Emergency Department is open with no restrictions
Condition Yellow: The Emergency Department is busy but not overwhelmed. Patients presenting to the Emergency Department via EMS may experience significant delays in treatment due to the current volume and/or acuity of patients already in the Emergency Department. EMS personnel should inform the patient of this situation and consider transporting the patient to another facility if the patient consents.
This condition automatically terminates in 4 hours unless renewed.
Condition Red: All of the usually available resources in the Emergency Department are overwhelmed such that receipt of additional patients will result in the inability to care for them safely. Patients may not be brought to the Emergency Department unless EMS personnel perceive the patient to be suffering from an immediately life-threatening illness or injury.
This condition automatically terminates in 2 hours unless renewed.
Condition Black: A hospital/facility may be reported in "Condition Black" when an emergency situation or catastrophic event exists that renders the entire facility as being unsafe. Examples of such events include but are not limited to: Fire, explosion, bomb threat, gun fire, nuclear/biological/chemical incidents, etc.
No patients shall be transported to facilities that are reported as in "CONDITION BLACK"
Source: Hospital Status monitor at EMS.org
These hospital status codes are not statewide - they're region-wide. Each regional EMS council has there own communications protocol. The EHSF in the York/Harrisburg/Lancaster uses plain English for hospital statuses:
ED Divert
Trauma Divert
CT Divert
Critical Care Divert
Total Divert
etc...
ED Divert
Trauma Divert
CT Divert
Critical Care Divert
Total Divert
etc...
chankel
Member
Chester County also uses plain English. It's usually "total divert" or a specific announcement such as "the CT scanner at Jennersville is down." Maryland has some advantages with a statewide system that includes internet reporting of facility status.
Standardized color codes are used to designate the status of a facility, and with the CHATS system hospitals can check the status of other facilities in their region, or neighboring regions. There are 5 regions numbered 1 through 5:
http://miemss.umaryland.edu/Chats/Reg124.html
http://miemss.umaryland.edu/Chats/Reg3.html
http://miemss.umaryland.edu/Chats/Reg5.html
If a hospital is on re-route it tends to aggravate delays in EMS response time and force the EMS personnel to give continued care onboard the unit while waiting for a bed to open up. Having worked on both sides of the door at one time or another, this is a big pain for staff and patients, and when I was living in Baltimore County it was frequently a topic of radio discussion between EMS crews and EMS supervisors during times of high call volume and heavy ED patient loads. If a hospital is already on yellow alert, the ED staff can be seriously taxed if a blue alert occurs! Descriptions of the color codes are at the bottom of each CHATS region page.
Standardized color codes are used to designate the status of a facility, and with the CHATS system hospitals can check the status of other facilities in their region, or neighboring regions. There are 5 regions numbered 1 through 5:
http://miemss.umaryland.edu/Chats/Reg124.html
http://miemss.umaryland.edu/Chats/Reg3.html
http://miemss.umaryland.edu/Chats/Reg5.html
If a hospital is on re-route it tends to aggravate delays in EMS response time and force the EMS personnel to give continued care onboard the unit while waiting for a bed to open up. Having worked on both sides of the door at one time or another, this is a big pain for staff and patients, and when I was living in Baltimore County it was frequently a topic of radio discussion between EMS crews and EMS supervisors during times of high call volume and heavy ED patient loads. If a hospital is already on yellow alert, the ED staff can be seriously taxed if a blue alert occurs! Descriptions of the color codes are at the bottom of each CHATS region page.
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