Authors' recommendations: Hospitals must be prepared to respond to natural and manmade mass casualty incidents that may cause sudden demand on services. Disaster drills have been identified as a critical component of preparedness because they allow the institution to test response capabilities in real time. Evaluation of these activities is essential to understand the strengths and weaknesses of an institution's disaster response. Evaluation is based on accurate observation. Accurate observation requires careful documentation of events before, during, and after a drill. Using a standardized observation and evaluation approach allows for a consistent record each time a drill occurs within an institution. A standardized approach helps both to capture the specific strengths and weaknesses of hospital responses during the drill and to draw comparisons across hospitals participating in similar drills. Using a standardized evaluation also allows comparison from one drill to the next to determine improvements in areas where weaknesses have been identified. Drawing from the published literature on disaster drills as well as input from a variety of experts in the field, the Johns Hopkins University Evidence-based Practice Center (JHU-EPC) developed a set of evaluation modules and addendums for operationalized hospital disaster drills in 2004 entitled Evaluation of Hospital Disaster Drills: A Module-Based Approach. This document includes substantial detail on evaluation of hospital disaster drills. In 2005, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) requested that the JHU-EPC develop an abridged version of the original evaluation tool that focuses on the critical elements of drill evaluation that all hospitals should address as part of disaster preparedness. This document describes the principles behind the approach used to develop the abbreviated evaluation modules and addendums and recommendations for their use.

Project Status: Completed

Year Published: 2007

URL for published report: http://archive.ahrq.gov/prep/drillelements/drillelements.pdf

English language abstract: An English language summary is available

Publication Type: Not Assigned

Country: United States

Organisation Name: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Contact Address: Center for Outcomes and Evidence Technology Assessment Program, 540 Gaither Road, Rockville, MD 20850, USA. Tel: +1 301 427 1610; Fax: +1 301 427 1639;

Contact Name: martin.erlichman@ahrq.hhs.gov

Contact Email: martin.erlichman@ahrq.hhs.gov