Estimation of Increasing the Surge Capacity of Shaheed Rajaee Trauma Hospital in Shiraz

Background: The present study aimed to evaluate the surge capability of Shahid Rajaee Trauma Hospital in Shiraz in response to a mass causality incident. Methods: This descriptive study was conducted in Shahid Rajaee Hospital in Shiraz in 2017. The Delphi technique was used in this study. For this purpose, three checklists were used for the emergency department, operating room, and intensive care unit. The surge capacity was calculated for each unit based on the formulas derived from different studies. Results: The surge capacity of the emergency department, intensive care unit, and operating room was obtained 36%, 20%, and 17.5%, respectively. Shahid Rajaee Hospital of Shiraz can easily increase its capacity by 27% based on the scenario defined in this study, but if an accident leads to more causalities, it will more likely face with several limiting factors for increasing the capacity during the response to a mass causality incident. Conclusion: Due to the important role of hospitals in the crisis, it seems that the studied hospital should look for ways to increase its surge capacity to cope with unexpected accidents as soon as possible.