Are you ready?--lessons learned from the Fort Hood shooting in Texas

On November 5, 2009, a US Army psychiatrist allegedly opened fire with one or more handguns, killing 12 military personnel and one civilian at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas. The most severely wounded casualties were transported to Scott and White Memorial Hospital, a Level I trauma center and tertiary care teaching hospital in Temple, Texas associated with the Texas A&M University College of Medicine. Ten victims arrived in a 1-h period with another two arriving in the second hour, necessitating an emergency response to a mass casualty event. Our radiology department's response was largely unplanned and was therefore the result of many spontaneous actions and ideas. We share our experiences and from them formulate guidelines for a general radiology surge model for mass casualty events. It is our hope to raise awareness and help other radiology departments to prepare for such an unexpected event.