Data Collection and Analysis of Patient and Document Flow During a Disaster Exercise at a Large Hospital

Abstract

Disaster drills are effective for understanding and mastering business continuity plans (BCP) and response plans, and for identifying and improving problems, but the time and effort required to collect data is an obstacle. In this study, we developed a smartphone application to easily record the flow of patients and documents: NFC tags are attached to simulated patients and documents used in training, and they are read at each scene using a dedicated application. This tool can record when and where the patient was in the area, and when and where the documents were issued and received. We also propose several visualization and quantitative analysis methods that can be performed using the acquired data.

Keywords: Hospital Disaster Response, Disaster Exercise and Drills, Patient Flow, Performance Indicators, NFC, and Visualization

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1004879