| Course | APS-4000 Occupational Safety and Health |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 4 |
| Paper type | Research exercise: emergency and disaster preparedness |
| Length | About 445 words, 4 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Thomas Edison State University |
| Program | B.S. in Medical Imaging |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for APS 4000 Module 4
Forty Patients in an Hour: Is the Imaging Department Ready for a Mass Casualty Incident?
Student Name
B.S. in Medical Imaging, Thomas Edison State University
APS-4000: Occupational Safety and Health
Mentor Name
Month Day, Year
Forty Patients in an Hour: Is the Imaging Department Ready for a Mass Casualty Incident?
Why Imaging Matters in a Disaster
In a mass casualty incident, such as a highway pileup, many injured patients need CT scans within the first hour to find internal bleeding and head injuries. Imaging can become the bottleneck of the hospital's response.
What Planning Requires
Asfahl and Rieske (2019) describe emergency preparedness as planning for evacuation, alarms, assignment of duties, training and drills, so that people act quickly and correctly when an emergency occurs. OSHA's emergency action plan rule requires covered employers to have written procedures for reporting emergencies, evacuation, accounting for employees and the duties of those who remain to operate critical equipment (29 C.F.R. § 1910.38).
Assessing Preparedness
Adini et al. (2006) developed and applied a structured assessment of hospital emergency preparedness that examined standard operating procedures, equipment, training and drills, and found that preparedness varied widely across hospitals and that regular drills and clear procedures distinguished better-prepared ones. Using their categories, I reviewed our department.
| Area | Current state | Gap |
|---|---|---|
| Procedures | Hospital plan names imaging but gives no surge procedure | No CT triage order or reading workflow |
| Staffing | Call list exists but is updated yearly | Off-duty technologists' numbers outdated |
| Equipment | Two CT scanners, one often booked for scheduled patients | No plan to clear scheduled patients quickly |
| Training and drills | Imaging joins one hospital-wide drill a year as observers | No drill of a CT surge |
| Evacuation | Fire plan exists | No procedure for removing a patient from a scanner during evacuation |
Recommendations
The department should write a surge procedure that clears scheduled CT patients within ten minutes of activation, assigns one scanner to trauma and sets a triage order with the emergency physicians. The call list should be updated quarterly and tested by text message. The department should run its own CT surge drill twice a year and practice removing a patient from the scanner table during evacuation, a task that takes training because of the gantry and the table's height.
Who Will Lead the Changes
The imaging director will write the surge procedure with the emergency department's medical director, and the lead technologist on each shift will be named as imaging's incident contact during an activation, responsible for clearing scanners, calling in staff and reporting capacity to the hospital command center. The hospital's emergency management coordinator will schedule the department's drills and include imaging in the after-action review of each hospital-wide exercise.
Conclusion
Imaging is central to a mass casualty response, but our department is planned for as an observer. Written surge procedures, a current call list and department drills would close the gaps that a structured assessment reveals.
References
Adini, B., Goldberg, A., Laor, D., Cohen, R., Zadok, R., & Bar-Dayan, Y. (2006). Assessing levels of hospital emergency preparedness. Prehospital and Disaster Medicine, 21(6), 451-457. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1049023X00004192
Asfahl, C. R., & Rieske, D. W. (2019). Industrial safety and health management (7th ed.). Pearson.
Occupational Safety and Health Standards, 29 C.F.R. § 1910.38 (2024). Emergency action plans.
What the APS 4000 Module 4 instructions ask for
Emergencies and disasters are the fourth exercise's subject; the project's literature review, Part 3, falls due in the same week. For the exercise, research what emergency planning requires, how preparedness can be assessed and how your department fits into your organization's plans, and identify specific gaps and remedies. Asfahl and Rieske's chapter on emergency preparedness and the OSHA emergency action plan rule are the base; a published assessment framework helps you judge readiness systematically. Name who will lead each change. Use a published framework if one exists. Make each recommendation specific enough to drill. Name the gaps clearly.
How the APS 4000 Module 4 example is put together
The exercise explains why imaging matters in a disaster: CT can become the bottleneck in the first hour. Asfahl and Rieske's account of preparedness and OSHA's emergency action plan rule set out requirements. Adini and colleagues' structured assessment supplies categories for a five-row table that finds gaps in procedures, staffing, equipment, drills and evacuation. A margin note explains the value of a published structure. Recommendations cover a surge procedure, a tested call list, department drills and practice evacuating a patient from a scanner. A section names the people who will lead each change and coordinate drills. Practicing a scanner evacuation is singled out because it is hard to do well without rehearsal. A five-row table makes each gap specific.
Where the marks sit in the APS 4000 Module 4 rubric
Mentors grade this exercise on accurate understanding of preparedness requirements, systematic assessment of a real department, specific recommendations and correct citation. Papers that use a published framework to find gaps show method. Linking requirements to the department's real equipment and staffing shows application. Recommendations that can be drilled and measured show practical judgment. Mentors also look for named leaders and scheduled drills, which turn recommendations into plans. Using a published assessment framework shows method and makes gaps easy to see. Linking imaging to the hospital's command structure shows understanding of how preparedness works in practice. Specific owners and dates make the plan credible. Drills prove plans.
APS 4000 Module 4 help from the desk
Students lose marks by describing disaster planning in general, by assuming the organization's plan covers their department or by recommending "more training" without specifics. Read your organization's plan, find your department's role, assess it with a published framework and recommend procedures and drills that address each gap. A free first draft of your APS-4000 Module 4 exercise can be built on your department. Assign each recommendation to a person and a date, and include your department in the organization's after-action reviews. Use a published framework to assess readiness so your gaps are specific. Practice the hardest tasks, such as evacuating a patient from a scanner, in drills rather than assuming they will go smoothly. Keep the call list current.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Thomas Edison State University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
More APS 4000 and B.S. in Medical Imaging sample papers
- APS 4000 Module 1: Research Exercise: The Safety and Health Manager's Role in a Hospital Imaging Department
- APS 4000 Module 2: Research Exercise: Which Rules Govern Safety in a New Jersey Hospital Imaging Department?
- APS 4000 Module 3: Research Exercise: Applying the Hierarchy of Controls to Patient Handling in Imaging
- APS 4000 Module 5: Research Exercise: Controlling Scatter Radiation in a New Interventional Suite
- APS 4000 Module 6: Final Project Report: Ending Manual Patient Lifts in a Hospital Imaging Department
- APS 4000 Module 7: Project Presentation: Ergonomics and a Safe Patient Handling Program for Imaging
APS 4000 Module 4 questions, answered
Where can I find a free APS 4000 Module 4 sample paper?
The research exercise above assesses a hospital imaging department's readiness for a mass casualty incident.
What does an OSHA emergency action plan include?
Procedures for reporting emergencies, evacuation, accounting for employees and duties of those who stay to run critical operations.
How can hospital emergency preparedness be assessed?
With structured tools, such as Adini and colleagues', covering procedures, equipment, training and drills.
Why is imaging critical in a mass casualty incident?
Many injured patients need CT scans quickly, so imaging capacity can limit the whole response.
What is Part 3 of the APS-4000 project?
A literature review on the safety and health problem you chose, due with Module 4.