The Managed Casualty

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1973.

Responses to major disasters tend to be complex, not merely because of the size and scale of operations and the number of countries and agencies involved, but also because of the range of functions represented by these organizations. A full-scale emergency response can involve people trained in at least 35 different disciplines and professions. This increasing sophistication of modern emergency response makes the process of coordination a particularly challenging one. It involves matching urgent needs with available resources in the most rapid and efficient way possible: timely mobilization and quick action can reduce injury and loss of life, as well as damage. Emergency response management has been likened to conducting a symphony orchestra. Only the conductor has the full score, but the overall effect of many people playing different instruments can be wonderful if properly directed. Professionalization of response and management is key. This book, Integrated Emergency Management for Mass Casualty Emergencies, presents papers from experts in the field which explore the challenges of planning for and responding to mass casualty emergencies. There are several chapters covering hospital procedure – including field hospitals and hospital evacuation – as well as natural and man-made casualty events, and the final chapter presents ‘Auxilium!’, a training simulation game. There is a clear need to improve management and integration in emergency response. This book will be of interest to all those whose work may involve them in preparing for and dealing with a disaster situation.

When an accident or disaster involving large numbers of injuries occurs, the first to provide emergency assistance are communities closest to the site of the incident. During the last 20 years, Latin America and the Caribbean have given special attention to training emergency personnel in triage and in providing first aid either at the site of an accident or disaster, or at the hospital. The entire Region is now familiar with methods of classifying casualties, and this process has proved to be the most efficient means of ensuring survival of the injured in a mass casualty situation. However, there are still serious gaps in the coordination process, a situation that is most pronounced in remote areas or those with limited resources. Many lives have been lost in mass casualty situations because resources were not mobilized efficiently. The challenge we face is this: the more scarce the resource, the more efficient the organization must be. This publication describes the steps in designing a mass casualty management system that will ensure the highest possible survival rate. It focuses on the involvement of police, firefighters, Red Cross volunteers, and health center and hospital staff. If these professionals form part of the structure that we refer to as the mass casualty management "system" in this publication, they can contribute enormously to saving lives.

"This book is designed to deliver combat casualty care information that will facilitate transition from a continental US or civilian practice to the combat care environment. Establishment of the Joint Theater Trauma System and the Joint Theater Trauma Registry, coupled with the efforts of the authors, has resulted in the creation of the most comprehensive, evidence-based depiction of the latest advances in combat casualty care. Lessons learned in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) have been fortified with evidence-based recommendations to improve casualty care. The educational curriculum was designed overall to address the leading causes of preventable death and disability in OEF and OIF. Specifically, the generalist combat casualty care provider is presented requisite information for optimal cae of US combat casualties in the first 72 to 96 hours after injury. The specialist provider is afforded similiar information, supplemented by lessons learned for definitive care of host nation patients."--