Designing and executing a functional exercise to test a novel informatics tool for mass casualty triage

Abstract

Objective The testing of informatics tools designed for use during mass casualty incidents presents a unique problem as there is no readily available population of victims or identical exposure setting. The purpose of this article is to describe the process of designing, planning, and executing a functional exercise to accomplish the research objective of validating an informatics tool specifically designed to identify and triage victims of irritant gas syndrome agents. Materials and Methods During a 3-year time frame, the research team and partners developed the Emergency Department Informatics Computational Tool and planned a functional exercise to test it using medical records data from 298 patients seen in 1 emergency department following a chlorine gas exposure in 2005. Results The research team learned valuable lessons throughout the planning process that will assist future researchers with developing a functional exercise to test informatics tools. Key considerations for a functional exercise include contributors, venue, and information technology needs (ie, hardware, software, and data collection methods). Discussion Due to the nature of mass casualty incidents, testing informatics tools and technology for these incidents is challenging. Previous studies have shown a functional exercise as a viable option to test informatics tools developed for use during mass casualty incidents. Conclusion Utilizing a functional exercise to test new mass casualty management technology and informatics tools involves a painstaking and complex planning process; however, it does allow researchers to address issues inherent in studying informatics tools for mas casualty incidents.

The Challenge of Mass Casualty Incident Response Simulation Exercise Design and Creation: A Modified Delphi Study

“…Of the remaining 97 included articles, 47 discussed competencies, [16][17][18][19]24,[29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][41][42][43][44][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55]71,84,90,91,95,96,99,100,[103][104][105][106][107][108][109][110] and were split between 2 authors to extract data into an Excel database (Microsoft Corp., Redmond, Washington, USA) that was developed using themes and subthemes from MCI exercise publications to derive statements for the mD. [111][112][113][114]…”

“…Specifically discussing competencies. [16][17][18][19]24,[29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][41][42][43][44][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55]71,84,90,91,95,96,99,100,[103][104][105][106][107][108][109][110] 4…”