Mobilizing an ER department to handle a mass casualty incident

Re:Mobilizing an ER department to handle a mass casualty inc... by scoot on Monday November 13, 2017 @07:06PM (#15691430)

That sentence caught my eye too, and I would have commented on it if JshWright hadn't. "If the two of us ended up thinking that this person was dead, then I knew that it was a legitimate black tag." Sending them all back to the red-tag area doesn't get you a second opinion, it simply passes the responsibility to someone else.

A better explanation might by that by taking this approach, he was tiering the triage, in much the same way that the neurosurgeon in the article's comments mentioned that they were able to "neuro triage" patients sent to them.

I can't begin to imagine handling this type of situation.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Mobilizing an ER department to handle a mass casualty inc... by khed on Tuesday November 14, 2017 @05:23PM (#15699759)

There are a couple reasons why he might do this that I can think of.

1). He didn't know how many people were going to come in or how serious they would be. Triage in MCI does depend to a certain degree on what your facility is capable of and the expected volume and status of patients. If he underestimated the volume or criticality of the patients about to come in he might have put more into the red pod than he would have otherwise. Underestimating seems plausible in this case because this was the worst mass shooting in history in the US.

2). Medicolegally he might have a fear that he would be judged harshly if he didn't automatically try to save everyone.

[ Parent | on HN ]