Emergency medical services for treatment of mass casualties

The French emergency medical system (EMS) is the Service d'Aide Médicale Urgente (SAMU). In case of mass casualties, involving 100 simultaneous victims, SAMU has developed a disaster plan, "The White Plan." This plan is closely correlated to the Red Plan of the Fire Department, to provide advanced life support (ALS) at the incident site, followed in a continuum by medical transport and hospitalization in the appropriate services. To obtain the best chance of survival and recovery, there must be optimal coordination among all rescuers. This objective was approached by adopting a formal protocol designed for each city. In France, the medical organization for the treatment of casualties is operated by anesthesiologists who are qualified to perform ALS, preanesthetic evaluation en route, anesthesia for the multitrauma patient, and postanesthetic resuscitation in a continuum from the accident scene to the ICU.