Evolution of a mass casualty drill design team: A program evaluation

Abstract

Introduction: The number of mass casualty incidents (MCIs) is increasing. While many healthcare systems have not experienced an MCI, the need for preparedness is ever present. The unique challenges of MCI preparedness require the use of simulation, which has been found to be an effective model for training in medical environments.Objective: To determine common discussion points when a multidisciplinary team designed and implemented in situ MCI simulation drills to enhance our emergency preparedness plan.Design: This was a retrospective qualitative evaluation of the multidisciplinary mass casualty drill design team’s weekly meeting minutes documents. These documents provided insight into the evolution of a mass casualty drill design team and the advancement of our emergency response plan. Results: Continuous discussions surrounding resource restraints helped to inform the emergenceof the three themes, which were “Staff,” “Space,” and “Stuff.” These three themes were further broken down into different subthemes, but there was a continued focus on resource scarcity.Conclusions: Our results indicate the use of an MCI drill design team and in situ simulations assisted in better understanding of how hospital departments struggled with resource scarcity and provided opportunities to strengthen the emergency preparedness response plan. Incorporating a multidisciplinary mass casualty drill design team helped to ensure different perspectives and department needs were acknowledged and addressed through the in situ simulation trainings.