A Brief Report of Response Team Members' Perspectives on an Interteam Full-Scale Mass Casualty Incident Exercise in Norway.

Abstract

Introduction: A mass casualty incident (MCI) is unpredictable and involves many casualties at the same time and place. This brief report will present the results from an evaluation a full-scale MCI exercise, aiming to increase preparedness for such events, from the perspectives of future health-care professionals, as well as personnel in various emergency teams taking part in MCI response.

Methods: All participants in a 2-day, full-scale MCI exercise (N = 206) were invited to participate in an investigator-developed survey.

Results: In total, 124 participants (60.2%) responded to the questionnaire. Most of the respondents were satisfied with the information and frames of the full-scale MCI exercise. Based on their experiences, over half of the respondents perceived that the county ambulance, police, and fire departments were well prepared in case of an MCI in the future. Reported areas of improvement were specifically related to communication lines and triage.

Conclusion: Weakness in communication lines and triage were assumed a threat to effective handling of MCIs. However, further studies are needed to decide the content needed in MCI exercises to effectively increase regional preparedness for such events.