My entire professional experience has been spent in critical care, from busy operating rooms to the “field” as a first responder. During all these years, there is one thing that has become very evident to me: the first few minutes after a violent injury determine if a person will survive. With multiple victim incidents, those minutes become much more critical and many times much more difficult to manage.
Mass casualty incidents (MCI) are not theoretical concepts; they occur daily in schools, offices, and public places throughout the United States. When MCIs occur, the people on site at the time of the incident will need to make life-altering decisions in a matter of minutes regarding survival prior to the patient reaching a hospital. This is the foundation upon which the work that I have done with other professionals in the area of trauma and emergency response has been based.
Recently, I worked collaboratively with several professionals in the trauma and emergency response community to author a peer-reviewed article, “Prehospital Considerations for Mass Shooting Incidents.” The purpose of the article was to document the practical prehospital steps responders can take in high-threat, high-pressure environments. Those practical steps included early bleeding control, movement to safety, coordinated triage, and communication between law enforcement and EMS, and could be trained and prepared prior to the occurrence of an emergency.
If you are a healthcare provider, a first responder, or just interested in learning ways to improve survival, I would encourage you to read the entire article. The information in the article can be utilized by communities of all sizes. As we began this project, we knew that education is one of the few resources that can reach any place in America and be immediately utilized when needed.
Preparation may not eliminate tragedy; however, it changes the outcome. Every person who knows what to do in the first few minutes of a traumatic event becomes part of the solution. The more we learn today, the more lives we will save tomorrow.
