Mass
Casualty Management
 ass
casualty incidents (MCIs) are events that cause casualties large enough
to overwhelm the public health and
medical services of the affected community. The severity and diversity
of injuries, in addition to the number of victims, will be major factors
in determining whether a mass casualty incident requires resources from
outside of the community.
Today’s complex
disasters, especially those disasters involving terrorism and weapons
of mass destruction (chemical, biological, or nuclear) may result in an
austere environment—a setting where resources, transportation, and
other aspects of the physical, social, or economic environments impose
severe constraints on the availability and adequacy of immediate care
for the population in need.
Similar to the ABCs
of trauma care, disaster response includes basic elements that are similar
in all disasters. The difference is the degree to which these responses
are utilized in a specific disaster, and the degree to which outside assistance
is needed to perform the ABCs of disaster care.
Medical concerns
related to MCIs include four elements:
- Search and rescue
- Triage and initial
stabilization
- Definitive medical
care
- Evacuation
Public health concerns
related to MCIs include:
- Water
- Food
- Shelter
- Sanitation
- Safety
- Transportation
- Communication
- Endemic and epidemic diseases
Both medical and public health disaster response activities
are coordinated through one organizational structure, the
Incident Command System.
Assessment of needs
for temporary shelter; Turkish earthquake, 1999
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