Citation

Neeki M, DuMontier S, Toy J, Archambeau B, Goralnick E, Pennington T, Inaba K, Hammesfahr R, Wong D, Plurad DS. Cureus 2021; 13(3): e13657.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Curēus)

DOI

10.7759/cureus.13657

PMID

33824808

Abstract

Current mass casualty incident (MCI) response in the United States calls for rapid deployment of first responders, such as law enforcement, fire, and emergency medical services personnel, to the incident and simultaneous activation of trauma center disaster protocols. Past investigations demonstrated that the incorporation of advanced trauma-trained physicians and paramedics into prehospital teams resulted in improved mortality during routine emergency medical care in Europe and in the combat setting. To date, limited research exists on the incorporation of advanced trauma-trained physicians and paramedics into prehospital teams for civilian MCIs. We proposed the concept of Special Medical Response Teams, which would rapidly deploy advanced trauma-trained physicians and paramedics to deliver a higher level of medical and surgical care in the prehospital setting during civilian mass casualty incidents.

Language: en

Keywords

emergency medical services; disaster; mass casualty incident; triage