The University of Colorado Hospital will present “The Role of Automation in Mass Casualty Events, ” detailing how its nationally recognized response to the 2012 Aurora, CO theater shootings saved all 22 victims treated at that facility, at HIMSS’14 in Orlando, FL, on February 25.
UCH Hospital Manager Paige Patterson, RN, BSN, will share her personal story of how years of mass casualty simulation drills, combined with outstanding staff response and automated capacity management technology, brought order to chaos immediately after the event and in the days ahead.
Minutes after shooting suspect James Holmes allegedly killed 12 movie goers and wounded 58, UCH’s already-full emergency department began receiving victims because the first responders were Aurora police who were unaware the hospital officially was on diversion. Most had wounds to the chest and abdomen and many required blood transfusions. Additionally, other emergent cases unrelated to the shootings continued to arrive.
Patterson will discuss the success of procedures implemented after 9/11 and how a new automated capacity management system made room for the steady arrival of critically injured patients, tracking their location, treatment and status in real time. She will also describe how up-to-the-minute data allowed UCH to provide family, law enforcement and media with appropriate details on an immediate basis.
To hear Patterson’s story, register for “The Role of Automation in Mass Casualty Events,” at HIMSS14 by clicking here.
To learn more about the automation technology systems deployed at UCH, visit TeleTracking Technologies at Booth #713.
