Limited Evidence on Best Strategies During Mass Casualty Events
Limited evidence exists to help policymakers and health care professionals identify the most effective strategies to allocate scarce resources during mass casualty events, according to a new AHRQ report. A mass casualty event, whether a natural event such as a hurricane, flood or disease outbreak, or man-made such as a bioterrorism attack, can occur suddenly and can severely challenge highly experienced and well-equipped health care providers and systems. Based on an evidence review conducted by researchers at AHRQ’s Southern California RAND Evidence-based Practice Center, no single strategy to allocate resources during mass casualty events was found to be most effective. Led by Justin Timbie, Ph.D., and Art Kellerman, M.D., the researchers also found that commonly used field triage measures do not perform consistently during mass casualty events. They also found evidence suggesting that specific strategies influence the speed and efficiency of biological countermeasure dispensing during a bioterrorism attack or influenza pandemic. For example, delivering medicines to the public via postal carriers reaches more people faster than making them available at a centralized location. Although some promising strategies exist, additional research is needed to identify the optimal methods, techniques, and technologies to employ during mass casualty events. Select to access the report, Allocation of Scarce Resources During Mass Casualty Events.
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