Major Incident Management Research Articles

Book review: Major Incident Management System. The scene aid memoire for major incident medical management and support

Book review: Major Incident Management System. The scene aid memoire for major incident medical management and support

Encyclopedia of forensic sciences

Encyclopedia of forensic sciences

Australian major incident nomenclature: it may be a 'disaster' but in an 'emergency' it is just a mess.

A standardized major incident nomenclature has practical applications for medical communication and audit of the medical response to incidents. A telephone and fax survey of major incident nomenclature in State and Territory health service emergency management plans and 'disaster' legislation was carried out on 13 August 1999. Within Australia there were a total of 13 different terms to describe incidents that could produce casualties: there were four definitions of the word 'disaster', eight definitions of the word 'emergency' and one definition of the word 'incident'. Australia lacks a uniform system of classifying and recording mass casualty incidents. This prevents both the independent clinical audit of the medical response to an incident and the cross-border comparison of the effectiveness of trauma systems to deal with multiple casualties. Australia's geography highlights the need to develop a nomenclature that allows medical practitioners, in isolated environments, to accurately describe an incident and the medical support that is required. The Potential Injury-Creating Event (PICE) nomenclature is a simple system to describe the functional impact of an event upon a community and the level of medical support required. It can be used to provide the basis for the uniform reporting of the medical management of major incidents within Australia.

Emergency Medical Services Systems and HAZMAT major incidents

Exposures to released hazardous materials (HAZMAT) pose an increasing threat to individual and public health, particularly in high population density. Any incident causing casualties on a scale which threaten or causes overload of the available resources of the emergency medical services (EMS) or associated systems (EMSS), constitutes a major incident (MI). Emergency services, including the EMSS, have a statutory duty to develop a comprehensive, integrated and flexible all-risk Major Incident Plan (MIP) for such an event. The MIP should also include developed management provision for HAZMAT incidents and in particular provision for safety and protection of both casualties and the EMSS personnel and systems, from secondary contamination by persistent, transmissible HAZMAT agents. This paper offers an outline review of contemporary policy and practice guidelines for the management of HAZMAT incidents and major incidents, with emphasis on the following: strategic and tactical preparation, integrated modular planning, communications, evaluation, training and equipment, including personal protection. In addition organisational aspects of the safe management and protection of the EMSS and personnel at the incident site, during transportation and at the receiving hospitals are considered. Safe and effective management of casualties requires adequate protection from further exposure, triage and synchronous decontamination and life support. Finally, the implications of conventional and unconventional conflict including terrorism and current unsolved problems are discussed.

Medical cover at Scottish football matches: have the recommendations of the Gibson Report been met?

OBJECTIVES: To determine if doctors providing medical care at Scottish football stadiums meet the standards recommended by the Gibson Report. METHODS: A postal questionnaire and telephone follow up of doctors...