Analysis of Military-Civilian Patient Handoff at Vista Forge Multi-Agency Nuclear Disaster Exercise 2022.
Military Medicine · 2023-08-22 · Observational study
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: The leadership of Vista Forge 2022 requested evaluation of the handoff process between military assets and civilian emergency medical services (EMS) providers by the Beth Israel Deaconess Fellowship in Disaster Medicine (BIDMF). Vista Forge was a multi-agency military-civilian full-scale disaster exercise coordinated by the U.S. Military. The exercise, held in Atlanta, Georgia, simulated response to a nuclear bomb in an urban setting by military and civilian disaster teams. MATERIALS AND METHODS: BIDMF had several two-person teams who monitored handoff procedures between military assets after decontamination and civilian emergency medical services providers during the exercise evaluation. RESULTS: A verbal handoff between military and civilian entities was usually not done. Triage tags placed on mannequins before decontamination remained attached to the bodies and were sent with them to civilian hospitals. Triage tags were generic military forms without specific radiation or chemical exposure information. Not all decontamination groups had the same medical capabilities, and in a disaster it is unclear how these teams would manage medical emergencies. CONCLUSIONS: Future studies should develop a standardized handoff procedure to be used in mass casualty situations, and trial it in future multi-agency disaster exercises. Radiation specific triage tags should be considered.
Abstract © the authors or publisher, via PubMed. Reuse and removal
Tags
Fire service & police · Military & tactical · Urban · Communication & handover · Interagency collaboration
Related articles
- Civilian Medical Responder Perspectives to a Federal Military Medical Deployment in New York City during the COVID-19 Pandemic. (Prehosp Emerg Care, 2024)
- Intensive care in a field hospital in an urban disaster area: lessons from the August 1999 earthquake in Turkey. (Crit Care Med, 2003)
- The 2001 World Trade Center Disaster: Summary and Evaluation of Experiences. (Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg, 2009)
- Systems mapping for technology development in CBRN response (International Journal of Emergency Services, 2018)
- Express railway disaster in Amagasaki: a review of urban disaster response capacity in Japan. (Prehosp Disaster Med, 2006)
- Perspectives on coordination from the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense/Health Affairs. (Mil Med, 2002)