Mass casualty incident

High school (ages 12+)
Safety & Emergency

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/mass-casualty-incident

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the distinguishing factor?Differs from a multiple casualty incident where resources are sufficient
2. What is the historical precursors?Military medicine and early 20th-century large-scale civilian disasters
3. What is a mass casualty incident (MCI)?An MCI happens when the number of injured people is so high that the available doctors, nurses, and equipment can’t keep up. It’s not just about how many people are hurt, but how many helpers and supplies there are to treat them.
4. How do helpers decide who gets help first in an MCI?They use a system called triage. First, they look at how badly each person is hurt and who can be saved fastest with quick treatment.

Mass Casualty Incident (MCI): An event where the scale of casualties exceeds the capacity of local emergency medical services.
Triage: A systematic process for rapidly assessing and prioritizing patients based on the severity of their injuries.
Incident Command System (ICS): A standardized, on-scene management structure for coordinating emergency response efforts.
Overwhelmed Resources: A state where the number of injured individuals surpasses the available personnel, equipment, and facilities.