Burn MASCAL - a comprehensive case report

Area of Science:

• Emergency Medicine
• Disaster Management
• Burn Care

Background:

• Massive casualties (MASCAL) overwhelm healthcare facilities during conflicts and disasters.
• Effective resource management is critical for medical teams in mass casualty events.
• MASCAL situations place extreme demands on healthcare systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the management of a large-scale burn casualty event.
• To highlight strategies for handling mass influxes of severely injured patients.
• To analyze the successful treatment and redistribution of burn patients.

Main Methods:

• A ROLE 3 field hospital managed a burn-related MASCAL following a gas cylinder explosion.
• 71 patients with extensive deep burns (5-90% body surface area) were treated within 72 hours.
• A staged system of care delivery and patient redistribution was implemented.

Main Results:

• The burn MASCAL incident was successfully managed despite its scale.
• Patients received timely and appropriate care within the field hospital.
• Effective redistribution of patients to other facilities was achieved.

Conclusions:

• Managing mass burn casualties is a significant medical, organizational, and logistical challenge.
• Rapid, coordinated responses with established priorities are essential for MASCAL.
• Prepared strategies for resource distribution are vital for successful MASCAL management.