Fort Duncan Regional Medical Center Emergency Department, Texas

Crisis Response Team Award

This award recognizes an emergency department health care team that has risen above and beyond to achieve ENA’s mission to advance excellence in emergency nursing by responding to the challenges of working during a crisis situation such as natural or human-caused disasters or public health crises.

The Fort Duncan Regional Medical Center Emergency Department frequently treats patients who were injured after nearly drowning while crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. On a November 2023 night, the 20-bed department received a report from local EMS that six drowning victims were en route.

The team initiated its mass casualty protocol and enlisted help from throughout the hospital including managers, medical staff and the on-call pediatrician.

ED and ICU nurse teams were established to receive two adult patients with CPR in progress into a double trauma bay. The ED physician and on-duty nurse practitioner took charge of adult resuscitations with assistance from the hospitalist. An ED nurse and inpatient pediatric nurses formed a receiving team for the pediatric patient.

During this crisis, the facility’s trauma coordinator immediately assumed triage duties, freeing up ED staff. The facility CNO, med-surg director, women’s health manager, ICU director, OR director, and several labor nurses performed patient rounding and answered call lights.

All six patients survived with three transferred, two admitted and one discharged. The patient census for that day was 85, which is very busy for the 20-bed ED. However, no patients left without being seen.