Hospital resource utilisation for two mass-casualty incidents in New Zealand

To analyse hospital resource utilisation at Christchurch Hospital in New Zealand during two mass-casualty incidents (MCIs) in 2019: the Christchurch mosque shootings and the Whakaari (White Island) volcanic eruption.

A cross-sectional retrospective analysis was conducted to assess hospital resource utilisation during the two MCIs.

A total of 45 patients from the mosque MCI and eight patients from the Whakaari MCI were admitted to Christchurch Hospital. The total length of stay was mosque MCI: 15,054 hours (average 335 hours per patient) and Whakaari MCI: 1,841 hours (average 230 hours per patient). Mean surgeon time (operative length multiplied by number of surgical staff) was mosque MCI: 6.5 hours and Whakaari MCI: 14.7 hours. Burns represented a significantly greater surgical workload per operative event. There were notable differences in staffing, investigations, consumables, blood products, theatre time and the number of operative events between the MCI cohorts.

The studied MCIs had significant effects on hospital resource utilisation. Burn trauma was more resource intensive than non-burn trauma, despite most patients being repatriated within days of the index event. An analysis of resourcing, surge capacity and funding models in New Zealand is required to ensure trauma centres can effectively respond to future crises.