Medical management after indoor fires: a review.

Area of Science:

• Disaster medicine
• Burn management
• Public health preparedness

Background:

• Mass burn casualties from indoor fires pose significant challenges to healthcare systems.
• The Volendam café fire in 2001 was a severe indoor mass burn incident with limited documented information.
• Existing literature lacks comprehensive data on managing similar mass burn events.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review medical literature on indoor fires with mass burn casualties.
• To identify knowledge gaps in the medical management of indoor fire disasters.
• To inform future preparedness, mitigation, and response strategies for mass burn incidents.

Main Methods:

• A systematic literature review was conducted focusing on indoor burn disasters.
• Investigated aspects included fire characteristics, emergency response, triage, treatment, patient distribution, and outcomes.
• Nine similar indoor fires were selected for analysis.

Main Results:

• Nine indoor fires were reviewed, involving 137-6000 casualties in seven incidents.
• Mortality rates varied widely (1.4% to over 50%).
• Data on emergency response and on-scene triage were limited; most patients were treated in general hospitals.

Conclusions:

• Medical literature infrequently details characteristics of indoor fires relevant to disaster management.
• Current reports primarily focus on casualty numbers and mortality, with limited insights into management and treatment.
• Standardized reporting methods and effective record-keeping are crucial for improving future mass burn incident management.