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The Emergency Room During Mass Casualty Incidents

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WSES Handbook of Mass Casualties Incidents Management

Part of the book series: Hot Topics in Acute Care Surgery and Trauma ((HTACST))

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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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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Trauma and Emergency Surgery, Rambam Medical Center, Haifa, Israel

    Hany Bahouth

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  1. Hany Bahouth
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Correspondence to Hany Bahouth .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of General Surgery, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel

    Yoram Kluger

  2. General Surgery, Pope John 23 Hospital of Bergamo, Bergamo, Italy

    Federico Coccolini

  3. Emergency Surgery Department, University of Parma, Parma, Italy

    Fausto Catena

  4. Surgery I, Pope John 23 Hospital of Bergamo, Bergamo, Italy

    Luca Ansaloni

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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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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92345-1_4

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-92344-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-92345-1

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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