DISAST-CIR: Disastrous Incidents Systematic Analysis Through Components, Interactions and Results: Application to a Large-Scale Train Accident

Abstract

Disasters or hazardous incidents, either natural or man-made, continue to increase in frequency and affect more and more citizens of the world community. Many of these are published in the medical literature, each being a “case report” of a single event. In clinical medicine, a common nomenclature and uniform reporting of data enables the collection of similar cases to series studies, with clinical conclusions being drawn. Such a platform is lacking in the field of disaster medicine, impairing the ability to learn from past experiences. In the Medical Department of the Israeli Home Front Command, we coordinate the operation of various medical units and forces in a wide array of events. By doing so, we collect and analyze the relevant data related to disaster management, various components of the medical response, interactions between different components, and the ensuing results. We developed a systematic method of analyzing and describing disaster management issues in various events—DISAST-CIR—Disastrous Incidents Systematic AnalysiS Through Components, Interactions, Results. In this article, we describe this method by presenting the components, interactions, and results of a large-scale train accident that resulted in 270 casualties, 35 of whom were evacuated by helicopters from the accident site. Casualties were distributed among 10 different hospitals. The death toll was 7 people, 5 of whom died at the scene and 2 who died in hospitals. We recommend this method as a standard for scientific reporting of hazardous incidents. Accumulation of data, reported in a similar standardized fashion, would enable comparison and reporting of series, improving our understanding regarding the optimal medical response to various events.