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European MCI Response

Communications vehicle and triage technology on display at Interschutz 2015

Thu, Jun 11, 2015

By Daniel Mack, NREMT P & William Doss, EMT P

The possibility of a mass casualty incident (MCI) occurring in Europe is significant. Europeans tend to rely heavily on mass transit, which includes high-speed intercity rail, inner city trams, an extensive bus system, and frequent flights of commuter airliners that travel between cities. There’s also the potential for natural disasters such as flooding. Although these may not have as much potential for causing high numbers of acute injuries, the prehospital community is still expected to respond to and care for both the injured and sick in the disaster area. It’s not surprising, then, to find a number of specialty vehicles and equipment on display at Interschutz to manage such incidents.

JEMS: Interschutz 2015 Day 1

European MCI operations differ in a number of ways from those in the U.S. One notable difference is that rather than place on emphasis on transporting all patients as quickly as possible from the MCI scene, in many parts of Europe the strategy is to set up large tents for treating patients on site. These field hospitals are staffed by EMS personnel and the same emergency physicians who also respond to everyday EMS calls. This approach typically requires a high quantity of personnel and support equipment.

MHW (the German Medical Disaster Response Association) is an organization comprised of doctors, EMS personnel and other medical professionals from a variety of private and municipal agencies that responds to MCIs and disasters in Germany and in other countries around the world. They operate a wide variety of specialized vehicles to support their field operations.

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On display at the MHW booth is a well-equipped communications vehicle designed to respond to MCIs and disasters. The truck is equipped with a variety of computers and radios that allows communications with field providers and area hospitals. It also has a software package and ruggedized tablet computers that allow field personnel to gather triage and patient information and then transmit this information to one of the computers on the vehicle. Information can then be relayed to receiving hospitals, and command personnel can get an overview of the number of patients and types of injuries being managed.

Of course, computer software may be of little benefit without ways of marking patients. Tanit, a French company, is displaying a triage tag that’s not only versatile for field use, but that also has ample space for noting all the pertinent information that’s tracked in a field hospital style of operation. Each tag is packaged in a plastic zipper bag that holds the tag and associated components. Instead of the tags being individually numbered, the tag comes with a numbered wristband to be placed on the patient.

Also included in the bag is a plastic lanyard, a circular disc that says "contaminated" and a triage algorithm quick reference card. Once the tag is folded to display the triage color, the lanyard is fed through a hole in the tag. The "contaminated" disk and the plastic zipper bag (if used to hold some small personal belongings) can also be strung on the lanyard, which is then placed around the patient’s neck. The tag is large, making it easy to see the triage color. It also has an area for affixing an optional radio-frequency identification (RFID) chip, and tear-off portions that are kept by tracking personnel when the patient enters and exits the field hospital. A special binder is used to hold and organize these sections of the tag.

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s report where we’ll be highlighting some specialized MCI response vehicles on display.

Assistant Chief Daniel Mack and Firefighter/Paramedic William Doss are with Miami Township Fire & EMS in Cincinnati, Ohio and have a special interest in MCI management and disaster response.

By Daniel Mack, NREMT P & William Doss, EMT P

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