The Field's mass shooting: emergency medical services response

Area of Science:

• Emergency Medicine
• Disaster Response
• Public Health

Background:

• Major incidents (MI) and mass shootings are rare in Scandinavia, necessitating case reports due to limited literature.
• A mass shooting occurred at Field's shopping mall in Copenhagen on July 3, 2022, resulting in fatalities and injuries.
• This case report examines the emergency medical services (EMS) response to this MI, evaluating adherence to established guidelines.

Observation:

• The incident response involved 48 EMS units, including Tactical Emergency Medical Service teams.
• Four critically injured patients were transported to trauma hospitals, while deceased individuals were declared at the scene.
• Twenty-four patients with varying injury severity were treated across four hospitals.

Findings:

• The EMS response generally aligned with national MI management guidelines.
• Communication issues, initial ambulance resource scarcity, perpetrator uncertainty, and social media rumors complicated the response.
• Incident command employed non-standard measures to manage challenges effectively.

Implications:

• The study identifies critical areas for improvement in mass casualty incident response protocols.
• Effective communication strategies and pre-positioned resources are crucial for managing large-scale emergencies.
• Hospital preparedness programs are vital for managing mass casualty events.