Mass Medical Repatriation of Wounded Civilians in a Terrorist Attack—Lessons Learned from the Mombassa Experience
Year: 2005
Type: conference-abstract
Abstract: At 09:00 hours on 30 April 2004, a man armed with a gun releases sarin gas into the ventilation system of a college building.Local police, firefighters, and chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) teams respond to the scene.Before the teams arrive, those who are able, flee to the hospital across the street.The emergency department already is full when contaminated patients arrive.One hour later, a car bomb explodes in the hospital parking lot.A simulated hospital in a campus gymnasium was created by the University of Toronto Emergency Medicine Residency Program, Sunnybrook and Women's College Base Hospital Land Program, Toronto Emergency Medical Services, paramedic students, nurses, physicians, administrators, and social workers.The hospital received approximately 100 patients within two hours.To prepare for the exercise, a website was built, where a literature search on CBRN terrorist events was posted, local hospital disaster plans were evaluated, and new plans were created.Discussion: Hospitals are vulnerable in terrorist events and may need protection from police and CBRN teams.Online collaboration is a useful way to learn and modify disaster plans.Active testing using simulated, mass-casualty-producing events exposes weaknesses, which can be attenuated.
Language: English
Subfield: Emergency Medical Services
Field: Health Professions
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2507549166