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Review
. 2019 Dec 10:12:1013-1021.
doi: 10.2147/JMDH.S219021. eCollection 2019.

Mass Casualty Shootings and Emergency Preparedness: A Multidisciplinary Approach for an Unpredictable Event

Patrick Melmer  1 , Margo Carlin  2 , Christine A Castater  2 , Deepika Koganti  2 , Stuart D Hurst  2 , Brett M Tracy  2 , April A Grant  2 , Keneeshia Williams  2 , Randi N Smith  2 , Christopher J Dente  2 , Jason D Sciarretta  2
Affiliations
Review

Mass Casualty Shootings and Emergency Preparedness: A Multidisciplinary Approach for an Unpredictable Event

Patrick Melmer et al. J Multidiscip Healthc. .

Abstract

Mass casualty events (MCE) are an infrequent occurrence to most daily healthcare systems however these incidents are the causation for new hospital preparedness and the development of coordinated emergency services. The broad support and operational plans outside the hospital include emergency medical services, local law enforcement, government agencies, and city officials. Modern-day hospital disaster preparedness goals include scheduled training for healthcare personnel to ensure effective and accurate triage for a high-volume of injured patients. This MDT collaboration strengthens the emergency response to optimize the delivery of life-saving care during MCEs. This review identifies the clinical importance of the interdisciplinary team interactions and the lessons learned from past MCE experiences, strengthening healthcare system readiness for such critical incidents.

Keywords: mass casualty; mass shooting; multidisciplinary.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

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