Position Statement from the Steering Committee of the Atlantic-Gulf States Disaster Medical Coalition: Integrated Collaborative Networks Will Facilitate Mass Casualty Medical Response

Abstract

s i C a a i t n a i a n a o h a urricanes Katrina and Rita dramatically demonstrated ar-reaching problems in mass casualty medical response hat, in fact, have occurred in virtually every major disaster n the past 3 decades. These massive natural disasters reulted in large-scale evacuations of huge populations, often ith evacuees escaping with only the clothes on their backs. thers were transferred emergently from hospitals, nursing omes, rehabilitation, and special care units, often without ccompanying medical records. Family members were seprated when evacuated to different cities, and more than 5% of those being evacuated had preexisting physical or ental health needs. Transport to a casualty collection oint followed by secondary and tertiary relocations was ommon, often without benefit of the usual continuum of edical record keeping expected during interhospital ransfer. Evaluation, treatment, and prescriptions at triage ocations and clinics along the evacuation routes were often ccomplished out of expediency. Medical records at clinics nd hospitals in New Orleans were unavailable, and peronnel in New Orleans hospitals were unavailable to comunicate diagnoses or medication lists, even when the linic and hospital records were available. For the medical clinic and hospital operations during the urricanes Katrina and Rita evacuations, each local hospial and clinic relied on its own ingenuity and local insight to eal with the acute surge of new evacuees and their accomanying social, economic, and health problems. Each ealth facility embarked on a journey of rediscovery, using