After the terrorist attacks in Paris, Brussels and San Bernadino -- hospitals are all over are making sure they're prepared for if disaster strikes. Katie Gibas has more in this Healthy Living report.
Hospitals are constantly preparing for the worst. And in the wake of recent terrorist attacks in Paris, San Bernardino, and Brussels, they're revisiting their emergency preparedness plans.
"It always gives you cause to go and look at your plans that are related to that. We have done that. No plan is perfect. Plans are just guidance. You can always stray from that plan for the better or worse," said Kaleida Health Corporate Emergency Manager Tim Koracki.
In the event of a large-scale terrorist attack, the hospital would have to ramp up operations quickly. They would first establish an incident command post and bring in specialty teams, like decontamination units. Then, any patients who can safely go home would be discharged.
"We try to prepare to accommodate a 10% surge and have the space for that and staffing resources available. At BGMC [Buffalo General Medical Center], we have 450 beds, so we should be able to accept a surge of 45. Could that be more? It could certainly be more depending on what kind of day we're having, what kind of staffing model we're following. It could be less, depending on if our staff themselves are affected by the event," said Koracki.
Once patients arrive, hospital staff must quickly triage patients.
"To be honest, it would be overwhelming. It would be controlled chaos. The way we look at it, we have to channel that fear, that unknown into preparedness, into education, into constant drilling and training," said Koracki.
Hospital officials say there is always communication and coordination between all the health partners in the area, but even more so after terrorist events, like Brussels.
One area that hospitals have been focusing on in particular is treating children who become victims of these events.
"Obviously, Children's Hospital is trained and set up to accommodate a large pediatric surge, but other adult hospitals aren't as much. We're looking to give them training, educational materials, the tangible tools to accommodate a pediatric surge if children's was overwhelmed," said Koracki.