Major disasters: an ambulance service view

Abstract

Few events are more distressing than unexpected loss of life or permanent disability caused by physical violence or accidental injury. Particularly tragic is the injured but potentially salvageable patient who dies needlessly through delay in retrieval, inadequate assessment or ineffective treatment. The above statement prefaced the first chapter of the book and I think is important and should have an influential bearing when we think about planning for major disasters, even though it was not originally written with that in mind. The second quotation is not taken from any medical book of learning, but from the lyrics of a popular ballard sung by a 1950/60s group called the Batchelors. Maybe there are only a few here today, besides me, who will remember this Northern singing group, but the phrase from the lyrics of their popular record has relevance when we think about major disasters. It is: The more we learn the less we know. Every major disaster is different and each one presents us with new challenges. There seems to be always something new to learn. There is always something we forget. There are always those who, after the event, are ever ready to criticize our human failings. My purpose in being here today is to share with you some thoughts from the Ambulance Service, consequent on our experiences of being involved in numerous major disasters.