Mass casualty incidents - time to engage

Mass casualty incident continues to overwhelm medical systems worldwide. Preparedness for an MCI is a crucial requisite for the injured better outcome. The World Society of Emergency Surgery initiated a survey in regard to its senior member's personal and institutional preparedness for MCI. The results here in presented indicate that WSES should engage in a formatted and structured preparedness course for medical institutions and individuals. “By all appearances it seems to be just another normal Saturday morning in the emergency department (ED). Patients occupy thirty out of the sixty beds; some awaits discharge, some awaits admission to the hospital. All of a sudden the squeaky voice of the red phone is tearing the air, the hard metal voice on the line is reporting of an explosion in the nearby train station, estimated number of casualties is 80. You ask for their estimated time of arrival, when you hear the first sirens of ambulances parking out of the ED; no answer was needed.