Assignment task: This module will explore your decision making in a mass casualty situation.
You respond to the scene of a major assault. The scene is now secured by PD. You have three patients.
You have the following hospitals available. Medical Command tells you that each hospital can only accept one patient.
- Freestanding ER / minor hospital within a 10-minute drive, driving with lights and sirens.
- Shortest drive time but least specialized care
- Trauma center WITH burn capability 45 minutes by ground, or 30 minutes total by air, including response time of the helicopter.
- Longest drive time but most specialized care
- Trauma center WITHOUT burn capability 30 minutes by ground or a total of 15 minutes by air including response time by the helicopter.
- Middle drive time with middle specialized care
You have the following vehicles available. Per your local regulations, each vehicle can take one patient.
- One helicopter
- One BLS ambulance with typical equipment and two EMTs
- One ALS ambulance with typical equipment with one Paramedic and one EMT
There are three patients. The attacker used a flaming hot poker in the assault.
- Patient one was stabbed in the chest, above the 5th intercostal space, slightly lateral to the left midaxillary line.
- Partial-thickness burns around the injury site. There is blood, but it's difficult to tell if the injuries are still bleeding due to the burns and debris. His clothes are seared to his skin around the injury site.
- Patient two was stabbed in the neck, between the major vessels and the trachea on the right side.
- Partial-thickness burns around the injury site. There is blood, but it's difficult to tell if the injuries are still bleeding due to the burns and debris. His clothes are seared to his skin around the injury site.
- Patient three was struck by the getaway vehicle and has major head trauma.
- He was spared the red-hot poker.
Initial Post: You are the transport officer and must decide who goes where and how. Assume that all three patients are equally critical in terms of vitals. You will have to make your decisions based on mechanism of injury, and potential needs at the hospital. Looking for Online Tutoring?
Please share your reasoning. There is more than one appropriate answer.