Management of chemical disaster victims

Following a hazardous chemical accident, early critical care life support is crucial to minimizing potential morbidity and mortality (1). Providing effective care to victims, however, depends on the nature of the incident, the number of victims affected, the availability of medical care, the coordination of rescue efforts, the available modes of evacuation, and the availability of post-evacuation tertiary care. The goal in mass casualty scenarios is to minimize mortality and morbidity. Consequently, the most basic emergency response must include a method for assessing the incident, the extent of injury to victims, methods for determining which victims will receive treatment first, and what types of treatment will be given during the various stages of the incident. The basic need to handle hazardous chemical incident victims exists regardless of the environment in which the incident occurs, or whether small or large numbers of victims are involved.