Focus On Disaster Medicine And Preparedness

Guest: Mark Smith, MD Host: Larry Kaskel, MD Dr. Mark Smith, professor and chair of emergency medicine at Georgetown University School of Medicine, and chief of emergency medicine at Washington Hospital Center in Washington, DC, explains to host Dr. Larry Kaskel the positive impact of disaster preparedness guidelines on the day-to-day function of an emergency department. Dr. Smith outlines how the physical facility design and communication system of ER One, the federally-funded project to construct the national prototype for next-generation emergency care, where Dr. Smith is the director, will protect patients from hospital-acquired infections, reduce hospital errors and create an overall safer work environment for care providers.