One doesn’t have far to look, or long to wait, before the news media deluges us with the latest mass casualty incident (MCI). Whether it is a massive fire, a flood event, a bus or train accident, or a shooting, the occurrence is given top billing, especially if there is human tragedy associated with the episode. For most of us, it is that human tragedy that leads to our involvement. As physician anesthesiologists, we may be called upon to exercise our professional skills, though not always in the O.R.
Take for instance the October 2017 shooting in Las Vegas. In the worst mass shooting event in U.S. history, nearly 550 concert attendees were wounded and 58 were killed. Imagine 550 injuries of any type coming to your city’s hospital(s). Even for large tertiary or quaternary care hospitals, this large number of wounded would be overwhelming. Nevertheless, this is exactly what...