• Establishment of control centre led by senior nursing and administrative staff to direct activities | (a) Once a disaster is declared, a command centre is set up. | 1 Casualty department rapidly became congested and chaotic. | • The command centre was not set up, resulting in poorly managed casualty department. |
• Injured, relatives, friends, ambulance and staff milling around. |
• Journalists arrived and distracted health workers from their work |
• The public radio and television service was not used to inform the staff and public about the how to contact the hospital or what services were available. |
• Notify departmental heads and coordinate departmental responses | (b) Each department should have a disaster plan of its own that is activated when a disaster is declared. | 2 There was no departmental emergency plan. | • One patient seen at the supporting Harare Central Hospital was not recorded as a stadium stampede victim. |
• Supporting hospitals notified | (c) Hospitals should be designated primary receiving and standby hospital(s), and once the capacity of the receiving hospital is reached further patients would be sent to standby hospitals. | 3 The supporting hospital was not notified. |