The recent events of 9/11, the anthrax attacks and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita demonstrated that the U.S. health care system is not adequately prepared to deal with mass casualty incidents (MCIs) involving civilians. Since disasters initially require a local response, it is critical to the public's health that we are able to measure domestic preparedness at the local level, in thousands of jurisdictions across the country. When measuring preparedness at the local level, hospitals are a central core unit of the health care delivery system. The overall objective of this conference is to convene a group of experts to develop metrics for measuring hospital response capability for mass casualty incidents (MCI). More specifically, conference participants will be charged with developing a method and reaching consensus on a formula for quantifying hospital response capability based on a hospital's normal operating capacity, maximum surge capacity and emergency management program. In June of 2008, 20 experts in the field of emergency management, disaster medicine, hospital administration and instrument development will convene for 1 and 1/2 days to discuss metrics for measuring hospital response capability. Prior to the meeting, members of the organizing committee will have compiled relevant background information and developed draft recommendations for how to measure key components and elements of surge capacity and emergency management in an objective and standardized way. At the meeting, they will review these draft recommendations with all 20 members of the expert panel. The expert panel will prioritize the different components of surge capacity and emergency management and discuss how best to develop a comprehensive but feasible (i.e. not unduly long or burdensome) tool. The expert panel will also discuss whether different components of surge capacity and emergency management should be equally weighted or if weights should be derived. This conference grant is viewed as a first step in the development of a method to measure hospital response capability for MCIs in a reliable and valid way. ? ? ?
