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Short Text Messages (SMS) as an Additional Tool for Notifying Medical Staff in Case of a Hospital Mass Casualty Incident

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 October 2015

Dariusz Timler ,
Katarzyna Bogusiak ,
Anna Kasielska-Trojan ,
Aneta Neskoromna-Jędrzejczak ,
Robert Gałązkowski  and
Łukasz Szarpak
Dariusz Timler
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine and Disaster Medicine, Medical University of Lodz, Łódź, Poland
Katarzyna Bogusiak*
Affiliation:
Department of Cranio-Maxillofacial and Oncological Surgery, Medical University of Lodz, Łódź, Poland
Anna Kasielska-Trojan
Affiliation:
Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery Clinic, Medical University of Lodz, Łódź, Poland
Aneta Neskoromna-Jędrzejczak
Affiliation:
Department of Cranio-Maxillofacial and Oncological Surgery, Medical University of Lodz, Łódź, Poland
Robert Gałązkowski
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, Warsaw Medical University, Warsaw, Poland
Łukasz Szarpak
Affiliation:
Department of Cardiosurgery and Transplantology, Institute of Cardiology, Warsaw, Poland.
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to Katarzyna Bogusiak, MD, PhD, Department of Cranio-Maxillofacial and Oncological Surgery, Medical University of Lodz, Kopcińskiego 22, 90-153 Łódź, Poland (e-mail: katarzyna.bogusiak@gmail.com).
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Abstract

Objective

The aim of the study was to verify the effectiveness of short text messages (short message service, or SMS) as an additional notification tool in case of fire or a mass casualty incident in a hospital.

Methods

A total of 2242 SMS text messages were sent to 59 hospital workers divided into 3 groups (n=21, n=19, n=19). Messages were sent from a Samsung GT-S8500 Wave cell phone and Orange Poland was chosen as the telecommunication provider. During a 3-month trial period, messages were sent between 3:35 PM and midnight with no regular pattern. Employees were asked to respond by telling how much time it would take them to reach the hospital in case of a mass casualty incident.

Results

The mean reaction time (SMS reply) was 36.41 minutes. The mean declared time of arrival to the hospital was 100.5 minutes. After excluding 10% of extreme values for declared arrival time, the mean arrival time was estimated as 38.35 minutes.

Conclusions

Short text messages (SMS) can be considered an additional tool for notifying medical staff in case of a mass casualty incident. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;10:38–41)

Keywords

mass casualty incidentsshort message serviceSMSreaction time
Type
Brief Reports
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 10 , Issue 1 , February 2016 , pp. 38 - 41
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2015 

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