Development of Patient Evacuation Resource Classification System (PERC) Using Systems Engineering to Assist Hospital Evacuations in a Disaster.

Abstract

The aim of this study was the development of a decision-support tool capable of identifying the most appropriate transportation and local area coalition bed space (resources) for patient evacuations during a crisis. Introduction of the new concept of dichotomous tables and how they are incorporated into the Patient Evacuation Resource Classification (PERC) system. The methods used were Systems Engineering fundamentals to conduct a requirements analysis of the process, develop a new construct guided by functional analysis, design an evidence-based model that accurately identifies patient resource requirements translatable to resource capabilities, and create a prototype for a proof of concept. Research resulted in the PERC system prototype. The PERC system prototype created by this research allows for system testing under a Solomon four-group design simulation with the participation of leading medical, emergency response, academic, consulting industry, and logistics professionals from the Washington, DC, metropolitan area.