Abstract
Mass casualty incidents (MCIs), man-made or natural, have increased in recent years. In the 1970s, man-made events accounted for 16.5% of disasters and 4.3% of related deaths; in the 1990s, the number rose to 42.0% and 9.5%, respectively (not including “complex emergencies” involving armed conflict and a total breakdown of authority) [1]. There are different types of MCIs, primarily categorized as either progressive disasters or a sudden disaster. A progressive disaster is easier to manage in terms of preparedness and response due to its advancing nature (Hurricane storm). However, a sudden MCI is much more challenging for the entire medical system at local, regional, and national levels. The challenges are organizational, logistical, and relate to a wide range of medical and nonmedical fields through the different pre-hospital and inter-hospital phases of the event, including triage.
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Abbreviations
- AD:
-
Administrative director
- CEO:
-
Chief executive officer
- EMSC:
-
Emergency medical services coordinator
- ER:
-
Emergency room
- HN:
-
Head nurse
- MCI:
-
Mass casualty incident
- MedDir:
-
Medical director
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Bahouth, H. (2020). The Emergency Room During Mass Casualty Incidents. In: Kluger, Y., Coccolini, F., Catena, F., Ansaloni, L. (eds) WSES Handbook of Mass Casualties Incidents Management. Hot Topics in Acute Care Surgery and Trauma. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92345-1_4
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