Simulation study of a low-tech and reliable identification coding method for mass casualties

To evaluate the ease of use, reliability, and duplication risks of a new identification (ID) coding method, which works for mass casualty events such as disaster scenes.

The new ID code consisted of 16 alphanumeric characters: seven characters for the responder's information and nine for the casualty, which can be created in a very low-tech manner without using any electronic devices. A simulated triage was carried out for virtual causalities by students of the same grade at our university's medical school. Each participant was instructed to triage and create IDs for the same 10 virtual casualties. Eighty-nine participants created a total of 890 IDs, which were examined for correct coding and ID duplication rates.

Despite situations in which the risk of duplication might be considered high, complete duplication of IDs occurred in only one case (0.2%), and the other 888 IDs (99.8%) were unique. The simulation was done in a reasonable amount of time without any confusion.

In the mass casualty incident triage simulation, our new coding method proved easy and useful in creating IDs with an extremely low duplication rate. To develop this method for broader use, further evaluation is needed in more simulations and real disaster situations.