How should a healthcare team respond to a natural disaster in the facility?

• A. Implement the facility disaster plan, triage as needed, secure patients, coordinate communication, and account for staff.
• B. Wait for external responders to take over.
• C. Evacuate all patients immediately without plan.
• D. Ignore the disaster plan during events.

Answer: (A)

The main concept being tested is activating and following the facility’s disaster plan to coordinate a structured, safe response during a natural disaster. When a disaster hits, you don’t improvise from scratch—you enact the predefined plan so the hospital can respond in an organized way from the start. This means triaging patients to prioritize those in the most need or with the most time-sensitive issues, securing patients to protect them from ongoing hazards, establishing clear communication channels so everyone stays on the same page, and accounting for staff to know who is present, who may be missing, and what resources are available.

Having a documented plan in place helps manage limited resources, maintain patient safety, and ensure a coordinated effort across teams and with external responders. It also aligns with common emergency management practices like an incident command structure, which assigns roles and responsibilities so actions are efficient and not duplicated.

Choices that delay or replace the plan create chaos and risk greater harm: waiting for external responders to take over leaves the facility without immediate, organized leadership; evacuating all patients without a plan can expose vulnerable individuals to harm and waste critical time and resources; ignoring the disaster plan altogether removes the safeguards that help healthcare teams protect patients and staff during crises.