Disaster Awareness and Clinical Laboratory Students: A Place to Start

Abstract

Ann, a clinical laboratory science (CLS) student was 4 weeks into her professional practice experience at a large hospital in the Midwest. She had never been employed in a hospital but was excited to now be completing this final portion of her undergraduate CLS experience. It was early on a sunny Monday morning when Ann arrived at the hospital and proceeded towards the laboratory. There were many people filling the corridors of the hospital; some were definitely employees, as evidenced by their employee badges, but for the others one could only guess if they were physicians, nurses, or visitors. As Ann neared the laboratory entrance, suddenly the automatic doors at both ends of the corridor closed tightly. Those who were strangers in the hallway just seconds before were now colleagues of sorts, enclosed in the corridor. Within a few seconds, 2 members of the response team entered the corridor in full gear and began to explain the situation. An “incident” had occurred and posed a potential risk for those in this corridor. Everyone was asked to remain calm and to stay where they were until there was more information available. With those instructions said, the response team left.