LAC+USC emergency room responds to Metrolink crash victims
“The hospital response was excellent and we had additional staff ready to respond if necessary,” said Edward Newton, chair of emergency medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.
According to Christian McClung, Keck School of Medicine clinical instructor of emergency medicine, who was on duty on Friday evening, the LAC+USC emergency room immediately responded to requests for assistance. “Our HERT Team [Hospital Emergency Response Team] – a special response team of an ER doctor, two surgeons and two nurses trained to extricate patients from debris – was flown out to the scene of the crash,” said McClung. “Their services were not required, but we were prepared in the event that they were.”
When the announcement came about the incident, LAC+USC responded that the medical center could treat up to 50 victims. “We first received notice that there was a mass casualty incident at approximately 4:25 p.m.,” said Stephanie Hall, chief medical officer of LAC+USC Medical Center. “Our staff really stepped up to the plate. Nurses stayed; residents stayed. Surgeons came in from home. We worked like a well-oiled machine.”
Administrative staff, nurses and physicians worked together to clear the emergency room by moving patients to other areas. “The hospital’s response was very well coordinated thanks to the surge capacity plan that we have in place,” said McClung. “The surge capacity plan has enabled huge improvements in our ability to respond to disasters like this.” LAC+USC’s surge capacity plan compensates for an increased demand on emergency room services by increasing resources from throughout the hospital.
“We received approximately five critical patients from the rail crash, and they came in one after another,” McClung said. “We also received additional critical patients at the same time: a man suffering from a heart attack, another with a gunshot wound. So at the same time we were taking the crash victims, we received four to five critical patients that were unrelated to the crash.”
In comparison to the LAC+USC Medical Center’s response to previous disasters, Hall felt that the entire hospital responded with better efficiency and coordination. “Resources came together so much more quickly than they have in past incidents,” she said. “People did just what they were supposed to do. All of the planning that our staff, nurses and physicians have done paid off.”
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The Chronicle of Higher Education mentioned USC’s $6 billion fundraising campaign. The story noted that USC had already raised $1 billion in a “quiet phase,” including the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College.
The Guardian (U.K.) highlighted two major gifts to USC in a list of the 10 biggest philanthropic benefactors in America. The list included the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College, and the $110 million gift from USC Trustee and USC Viterbi School alumnus John Mork and wife Julie to create the USC Mork Family Scholars Program.
The New York Times featured the USC U.S.-China Institute documentary “Assignment: China — The Week that Changed the World.” The documentary, part of a series, examines media coverage of the 1972 Nixon trip that reshaped U.S.-China relations after a quarter century of isolation and hostility. “People look back now and take it for granted that the outcome was preordained,” said the institute’s Mike Chinoy, who produced the documentary. Voice of America also featured the story.
Los Angeles Times featured the Oscar Senti-meter, a tool developed by the USC Annenberg School, Los Angeles Times and IBM that analyzes thousands of tweets about the Academy Awards nominees. The story noted that Mexican actor Demian Bechir received an enormous boost on Twitter the day of the nominations, with a total of 6,893 tweets mentioning him, a 47-fold increase from the day before. The story noted the tool uses language-recognition technology developed in collaboration with USC Viterbi School’s Signal Analysis and Interpretation Lab.
The Times of India (India) featured a three-day medical emergency training workshop organized in association with USC. At the workshop, held at GCS Medical College in India, 50 doctors and more than 100 paramedics learned how to improve emergency support systems. William Mallon of the Keck School of USC said that discussion topics included the use of portable ultrasonic devices to scan patients. “The ultrasound applications help physicians make accurate and timely decisions,” he noted. Daily News & Analysis (India) also featured the workshop.
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