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Feb 21, 2009 7:55 pm US/Eastern
Children's Hospital Staff Practices With Mock Move
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ―
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The staff of Children's Hospital and other ambulance companies practiced for their move to a new facility this spring.
KDKA
It wasn't exactly a May day, but more than 75 staff members and seven ambulance companies practiced today for the May move from Children's Hospital from Oakland to Lawrenceville.
"There's a lot more people than I had anticipated, that actually came today, which is good, because I think the more people who understand the process, the better," says move coordinator, Jennifer Ignemma, RN.
With months of computer modeling and a table top drill about a month ago, organizers have been trying to pinpoint where possible problems could arise. A big one has been communication.
"What you found was that people were inquiring over issues they heard were going on, maybe not on their route or not on their floor," explains Ignemma. "We decided simple is better."
Conveying just the essentials is the goal, but it proved to be a challenge as radios didn't work and patients backed up.
Simulated patients and mannequins gave the staff a real life feel.
"We're actually getting in the ambulance, going to the new facility, just like we will be," Children's Hospital nurse Darci Robinson describes, as she escorted a gurney with a child mannequin to the hospital's ambulance driveway.
Some pretend patients need oxygen or IV fluids, depending on their illness, like cancer, decreased immune function and serious infections, such as MRSA.
During the actual move, the ambulances will have to be sanitized between patients.
Another challenge was thrown into today's exercise, one patient was assigned to stop breathing on the way over, but there's a method behind the madness.
"We're going to test our process...[in the event] a patient decompensates," EMS specialist Rick Lippert says to a fleet of emergency transportation staff, "how we manage that, how we communicate that, and how we ultimately take care of that patient."
Already there are more communication issues in this February mock move.
But the move coordinators still have some time. A chance to improve will be coming up in another mock move in April, just weeks before the actual move in early May.
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