What it means
Every hospital and care facility keeps a plan for events such as fires, severe weather, mass casualties, power loss, chemical spills and violence. It sets out who leads, how staff are called in, how people communicate, where clients are moved, and how supplies are found. Staff practice it in drills.
For the nurse
Know your own role in the plan, the evacuation routes and where emergency equipment is kept. In a disaster, follow the incident command structure rather than acting alone.
At a glance
| Also written | emergency operations plan, emergency response plans |
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Related terms
triage
Sorting clients by how urgently they need care, to decide who is seen first.
mass casualty triage
Sorting many injured people quickly by need when there are more victims than staff and supplies can treat at once.
RACE
A memory aid for the steps to take in a fire: Rescue, Alarm, Contain, Extinguish or Evacuate.