Patient Transport Issues

[fcphdJim]

Our hospital is rather remote and geographically isolated by mountain passes and rivers. Recently we have been seeing flooding, mudslides, and road washouts all over the region. For a while every route out of our county was either blocked or facing the threat of closure. During that time the weather was bad enough that helicopters were unable to fly into our facility for patient transport. Fortunately a couple of routes remained open, and one has since been temporarily repaired, but it did make us question what we would do in the event of a critical patient and no means of transport. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[Jan Glarum]

(05-03-2017, 12:04 AM)fcphdJim Wrote: Our hospital is rather remote and geographically isolated by mountain passes and rivers. Recently we have been seeing flooding, mudslides, and road washouts all over the region. For a while every route out of our county was either blocked or facing the threat of closure. During that time the weather was bad enough that helicopters were unable to fly into our facility for patient transport. Fortunately a couple of routes remained open, and one has since been temporarily repaired, but it did make us question what we would do in the event of a critical patient and no means of transport. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Your situation sounds similar to what I have experienced when I was the director of a hospital-based ambulance service. Essentially three routes out which were prone to blockages but not normally at the same time. Being a coastal hospital with a mountain range between us and the metro-facilities air transport during the winter and spring was hit or miss. Our normal plans if our primary route was blocked would be to take an alternate which would add anywhere from 2-4 hours one-way to the trip. Occasionally when the air ambulances could not fly, the USCG would fly the patient with our crew as they had all-weather capability. Lastly our hospital would keep patients and work closely with the physicians at the tertiary care hospitals.