Military offers lessons for dealing with mass casualties

Iraq and Afghanistan show five ways hospitals can prepare for attacks, disasters


Mass casualty incidents, or MCIs, provide a constant reminder of why hospitals need a plan in place to be able to function optimally during and after a catastrophe, according to an article on the Hospital & Health Networks Daily website.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only 67 percent of American hospitals have plans in place for a range of hazards.

In contrast to most civilian physicians, the military is trained to execute emergency plans for large-scale disasters. The article uses five hospitals where recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan offered useful lessons for civilian hospitals.

• Emergency response (Who's in charge?)

• Improved hospital triage

• Maintaining hospital function

• Improved communication between health care personnel

• Practice makes perfect

Read the article.

 



September 17, 2014


Topic Area: Safety


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