Patient identification systems for use in mass casualty disasters

A colleague in the Pacific Northwest wonders if the identification systems used during daily patient emergency situations (i.e. for the steady stream of trauma) are the same as what facilities would use in a mass casualty disaster situation if multiple patients (such as more than 100) arrived at nearly the same time. She reports that at her hospital the disaster plan is to identify each patient via a commercially available blood bank ID band that is attached to an extremity along with an approximately 4" x 8" paper chart that is attached to the patient. This chart allows for documentation of the status assigned to the patient, lab orders, etc. The blood bank ID band contains only one identifier but allows for addition of the patient name if it can be obtained. For unconscious patients they are in the process of deciding how to prelabel the band so that there are two identifiers. A suggestion was made at her institution to prepare enough trauma packets for 100+ disaster patients. This was not preferred because many patients will arrive with only bumps and bruises and will not ultimately require extensive treatment. These patients would not require a complete trauma pack which includes labels, chart order forms, etc.

Editor's Note: Colleagues might be interested in the information below:

• CBBS Disaster Response Plan
• CBBS e-Network Forum: Planning for a natural or man-made disaster at hospitals and blood centers
• CBBS e-Network News: Blood and Disaster - Supply and Demand
• How Well Do You Know Your Emergency Power System?
  (from the Spring, 2003 issue of CBBS Today)

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The following comments have been received.

ADDENDA May 3, 2005

1. The blood bank supervisor at a medium-sized hospital in North Carolina reports that they recently changed their patient identification procedure for unidentified trauma and mass casualty patients to use pre-determined names and account numbers. Their system requires that if a patient's identification is not known at the time of their admission, the patient is assigned a name that begins with Alaska, A, with each subsequent patient being given a different name, continuing through the alphabet. This approach permits them to get away from using John/Jane Doe designations for unidentified patients. Simultaneously, they also use an armband system designed specifically for blood bank testing and transfusions (each ID band has a number that is unique).