Assessment of medical response capacity in the time of disaster: The estimated formula of hospital treatment capacity (HTC), the maximum receivable number of patients in hospital

INTRODUCTION: For the assessment on medical response capacity for disaster in local area (such as rescue capacity, transport capacity and treatment capacity), it is necessary to assess it in peace time, and understand how many sufferers from disaster the hospital can respond to. Here the estimated formula of Hospital Treatment Capacity (hereinafter shortened to HTC), the maximum receivable number of patients in hospital (hereinafter shortened to MRN) was showed, which derived from the assessment on emergency medical response in Kobe University Hospital as an example. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We treated a total of 12,032 patients transferred and admitted to Kobe University Hospital from April 2003 to January 2005. We calculated the required number of medical personnel, equipment and length of treatment time in order to respond to 410 severe traumas, 35 burn injuries, and 28 patients with blood purification, which were considered to be main clinical conditions in disaster. Beside, the occupation of emergency room and the operation room per hour were also investigated in our hospital. RESULTS: HTC (MRN) for each clinical condition within H hours is expressed by following formula: (1) HTC (MRN) for burn injuries = The maximum integer of (≤Doctors/2∩≤Respirators/1∩≤outpatient beds/1∩≤inpatient beds/1∩≤monitors/1) x the minimum integer of (≥H/1.85) (2) HTC (MRN) for patients with blood purification = The maximum integer of (≤doctors/2∩≤ blood purification systems/1∩≤ outpatient beds/1∩≤inpatient beds/1∩≤monitors/1) x the minimum integer of (≥H/2.00) (3) HTC (MRN) for severe traumas =The maximum integer of (≤doctors-a/2∩≤surgeons/1∩≤anesthetists/ 1∩≤radiologists/1∩≤respirators/1∩≤outpatient beds/1∩≤inpatient beds/1∩≤monitors/1∩≤operation rooms/1∩≤angiography rooms/1) x the minimum integer of (≥H/2.82+b) CONCLUSION: The treatment capacity within local area is able to be assessed by adopting the estimated formula of HTC (MRN).