MHA: Hospitals Improved Outcome Of Marathon Attack
Key systems employed by Bay State hospitals helped reduce casualties resulting from the Boston Marathon bombings last week, the Massachusetts Hospital Association (MHA) said today.
According to the MHA Monday Report, 219 patients were treated in 20 hospitals in the Greater Boston and MetroWest regions following the twin blasts detonated at the finish line of Boston's historic race on April 15.
Despite the "incalculable pain and suffering" of the victims and their families, the MHA said the losses and injuries would have been worse without key communication and response measures Massachusetts hospitals use.
The MHA said the statewide WebEOC system, a crisis information management system that provides real-time information sharing between hospitals, fostered effective communication in the hours following the blasts, so hospitals were able to share data on available beds and staffing.
Five Level 1 trauma centers, which employ experts in mass casualty and disaster situations, were located in close proximity to the explosions, the MHA noted. And the elimination of ambulance diversions a few years ago, in place of coordinating patient-care needs in all hospital departments prepared hospitals to treat patients after their emergency departments were full.
In addition, all hospitals conduct city-wide and internal drills to help prepare staff for mass casualties, the MHA said.
MHA President Lynn Nicholas and John Erwin, executive director of the Conference of Boston Teaching Hospitals issued a joint statement following the Marathon bombings.
"Our thoughts are with those families who lost loved ones, those who were injured and those indirectly affected. We want to commend the heroic efforts of the hospitals, first responders, and the local, state and federal agencies that collaborated to ensure that the injured received care in the immediate aftermath of the event."
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