Abstract
Mass casualty incident continues to overwhelm medical systems worldwide.Preparedness for an MCI is a crucial requisite for the injured better outcome. The World Society of Emergency Surgery initiated a survey in regard to its senior member's personal and institutional preparedness for MCI. The results here in presented indicate that WSES should engage in a formatted and structured preparedness course for medical institutions and individuals.“By all appearances it seems to be just another normal Saturday morning in the emergency department (ED). Patients occupy thirty out of the sixty beds; some awaits discharge, some awaits admission to the hospital. All of a sudden the squeaky voice of the red phone is tearing the air, the hard metal voice on the line is reporting of an explosion in the nearby train station, estimated number of casualties is 80. You ask for their estimated time of arrival, when you hear the first sirens of ambulances parking out of the ED; no answer was needed.
Highlights
Intuitively the number of injured was always related to the definition of a mass casualty incident (MCI), today accepted definition refers to an event that overwhelms the local healthcare system, with number of casualties that vastly exceeds the local resources and capabilities in a short period of time
Most of the surgeons involved in the survey practice in cities of 100.000-500.000 (39.1 %) and more than 1 million (34.8 %) habitants. 56.5 % of the institutions participating in the survey were University Hospitals and 26.1 % Governmental Hospitals
34.4 % of the centers involved in the survey experienced more than 5 MCI, and 50 % declared managing at least 3 MCI in the past. 56.3 % were involved in MCI within the last 5 years and 34.4 % experienced one in the last 5–10 years. 50 % of the medical centers treated 10–40 injured in average during the MCI
Summary
Intuitively the number of injured was always related to the definition of a mass casualty incident (MCI), today accepted definition refers to an event that overwhelms the local healthcare system, with number of casualties that vastly exceeds the local resources and capabilities in a short period of time. The definitions of a mass casualty incident depend on the resources of the admitting institutions. Many lives could be saved in any MCI if the affected medical organizations were better prepared and an organized accessible response system already primed. Experience show that the public is the first to provide emergency assistance in such incidents.
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