Medical Emergency Drills

Policy

We hold a medical emergency drill at least once a year.

Drills enable us to:

• identify and evaluate any areas where improvement or training are needed
• revise procedures so that our response is well coordinated
• improve staff preparedness
• optimise outcomes for patients and staff.

In a medical emergency, the most senior clinical staff member leads the response and directs all other staff, including non-clinical staff.

The annual medical emergency drill is documented and includes an analysis and debrief.

Holding an emergency drill

Plan the drill

1. Review the relevant practice policies:
   • Medical Emergencies
   • Emergency Response
   • Triage
2. Consider what emergencies are most likely to occur.
3. Assess what is needed to handle the emergency (e.g. staff roles, equipment, medication, etc.).
4. Ensure non-clinical staff receive training so that they are adequately prepared.

   Preparation for non-clinical staff might include training that covers:

   • the likely scope of the drill
   • staff roles
   • recognising and managing urgent health needs
   • where to find supporting reference material
   • understanding the practice's triage system and definitions
   • managing urgent phone calls – including when it is/isn't appropriate to put patients on hold.
5. Devise a realistic scenario and inform the participating staff when the drill will occur. Consider any any situations that might be specific to the practice, such as an unusual location or hours.

Perform the drill

• Include all staff in the drill if possible. This may mean conducting the drill more than once, and/or adjusting the roster.
• Vary your drill scenarios to cover the most likely, relevant situations.
• Make drills as realistic and spontaneous as possible – act as if it was a real situation.
• Have some observers if your practice team is large enough.

Evaluate and review

1. Debrief with staff immediately afterwards.
2. Record details of the drill and who was present.

   Allow participants to give feedback on successes, and areas for improvement.

   Areas for feedback might include:

   • Did you have enough clinicians available?
   • Did everyone understand their role?
   • Were the emergency kits fully stocked?
   • Was emergency equipment easily accessible?
   • Were the phone numbers in your emergency plan correct?
   • What improvements could be made to staff responses, or practice systems?

3. Develop a plan to correct problems.
   • Assign team members to make changes and follow up with them once the changes have been implemented.
   • If staff members didn't know what to do, use this to identify areas for additional training.

Tabletop exercises

As well as holding real medical emergency drills, regular tabletop exercises can be valuable.

Tabletop exercises can enable the team to:

• clarify roles and responsibilities
• test emergency planning in a low-stress, low-cost way
• identify and discuss problems.

Emergency drill documents

Medical emergency drill report