French white plan

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The French white plan (plan blanc) is, in France, the emergency plan to face a sudden increase of activity in an hospital, such as a massive arrival of casualties due to an accident or a disaster (who may come by their own means to the emergency department or are evacuated by a red plan), an epidemic or a lasting climatic event that becomes deadly for fragile people such as a heatwave.

[edit] Description

The white plans are defined by each health institution, public or private, by a person chosen by the institution. The plan is submitted to the consultative and deliberative authorities of the institution (board of directors, medical committee, technical committee, hygiene, security and working conditions committee). The scheme of the white plans for the département is made by the local director of public health (directeur départemental des affaires sanitaires et sociales), with the technical collaboration of the SAMU (French emergency medical service).

Once it is started, the white plan is managed by the SAMU. The actions performed by the institution include:

  • a crisis management (cellule de crise) is set up
  • the teams are maintained on duty (especially when the crisis happens at the shift change)
  • the off-duty personnel is gradually called back, in order to have sufficient means, but keeping a reserve to take over if the crisis lasts;
  • the transfer of patients from the strongly involved services to less involved services, and possibly to other less involved health institutions or even to home;
  • the non-emergency operations are cancelled from the schedule;
  • the available means are listed by the medical-technical services (pharmacy, laboratories, medical imaging) and the logistics services (laundry, catering) ;
  • the switchboard is strengthened, the communications are exclusively reserved for the white plan;
  • if necessary, the hospital is strengthened by a mobile sanitary kit (poste sanitaire mobile, PSM) ;
  • in case of massive arrival at the emergency department, a strict triage is organized at the entrance of the hospital under the charge of a sort physician; it is performed in a big room that is different from the usual emergency entrance and from the reception for the relatives and the press;
  • a reception for the relatives and for the press is organized; the priests of the different religions are requested to help the relatives (morale);
  • the traffic on the site is organized, to allow the emergency transfers and the norias;
  • additional signs and boards are placed to allow an easy foot traffic inside the building; the watch and security are increased;
  • when necessary, volunteers from associations can be requested (first aid or social aid associations), to deal with the small cares and support actions.

In case of a contaminating event (nuclear, radiological, biological or chemical — NBC), the flow of incoming patients must be strictly controlled to avoid the contamination of the rest of the institution.

The terrorist acts are likely to happen at the end of the afternoon, to "benefit" from the mass media coverage of the evening news (at 8 PM, "le 20h"). In this case, keeping the day shift allows to have two shifts at the same time when the evening shift arrives.

[edit] Bibliography

  • ministerial instruction (circulaire) DHOS/HFD n°2002/284 from the 3 May 2002 related to the organization of the health system in case of massive flow of casualties[1] (replaces the instruction DH/DGS from the 24 December 1987 — in French)
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