Analysis of Military-Civilian Patient Handoff at Vista Forge Multi-Agency Nuclear Disaster Exercise 2022

The leadership of Vista Forge 2022 requested evaluation of the handoff process between military assets and civilian emergency medical services (EMS) providers by the Beth Israel Deaconess Fellowship in Disaster Medicine (BIDMF). Vista Forge was a multi-agency military-civilian full-scale disaster exercise coordinated by the U.S. Military. The exercise, held in Atlanta, Georgia, simulated response to a nuclear bomb in an urban setting by military and civilian disaster teams.

BIDMF had several two-person teams who monitored handoff procedures between military assets after decontamination and civilian emergency medical services providers during the exercise evaluation.

A verbal handoff between military and civilian entities was usually not done. Triage tags placed on mannequins before decontamination remained attached to the bodies and were sent with them to civilian hospitals. Triage tags were generic military forms without specific radiation or chemical exposure information. Not all decontamination groups had the same medical capabilities, and in a disaster it is unclear how these teams would manage medical emergencies.

Future studies should develop a standardized handoff procedure to be used in mass casualty situations, and trial it in future multi-agency disaster exercises. Radiation specific triage tags should be considered.