Using the National Incident Management System to Prepare Physicians for Rapid Responses: A Pilot Study. (19th September 2023)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bar, Jonathan; Symonds, Scott; Du Pont, Daniel; South, Eugenia; Conlon, Lauren
• Is Part Of: Disaster medicine and public health preparedness. Volume 17(2023)
• Publication Date: 2023-09-19
• Subjects: COVID-19 -- education -- mass casualty incidents -- medical -- pilot projects; Disaster medicine -- Periodicals; Emergency management -- Planning -- Periodicals; Public health -- Periodicals; 363.34
• DOI: 10.1017/dmp.2022.197
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1935-7893

Abstract

Abstract: Objective: The study objective was to determine the feasibility of training physicians in the principles of the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and Incident Command System (ICS) as applied to in-hospital rapid responses and to assess physicians' attitudes regarding rapid responses. Methods: This was an educational pilot study. Resident physicians completed a pre-survey, followed by online training in the principles of NIMS and ICS, a knowledge test, and a post-survey. Results: The number of residents who participated was 22. In the pre-survey, most (20/22) did not have a working understanding of NIMS/ICS. Participants (21/22) agreed that residents should have more training in resource organization. On the knowledge test, the median score was 9.5/10. In the post-survey, participants felt more comfortable clearing extra resources from the scene ( P < 0.001) and that it would be easier to keep track of resources ( P < 0.001). Most indicated that they had a working understanding of NIMS/ICS ( P < 0.001) and felt more comfortable establishing command using NIMS/ICS ( P < 0.001). All agreed that they would consider using an NIMS/ICS-based structure on their next rapid response. Conclusions: Training physicians in the principles of NIMS/ICS as they pertain to rapid responses is feasible and appears to change residents' attitudes about rapid responses.