Surge management in a hospital refers to the coordination of operations to enable it to respond to a sudden, unexpected increase in patient volume that would otherwise severely challenge or exceed the capabilities of the hospital.

The Surge Management Plan 2010 provides guidelines for hospitals to assist in planning for a surge event.

The duration of a surge event may be over minutes to hours in the case of impact events (e.g. plane crash, train derailment or chemical release) or over many weeks or months in the case of an epidemic or natural disaster.

Application of the Surge Management Plan by WA hospitals enables WA health to achieve surge capacity for 1000 casualties for up to 36 hours.

State wide surge management arrangements will be included in the 2012 iteration of the State Health Business Continuity Plan. 

For further information, contact us.