Toxicological mass disaster management - a hospital deployment scheme

Toxicological mass disasters have occurred frequently in past years and constitute a permanent threat in urban areas. From the standpoint of hospital planning, special consideration is required to treat a large number of poisoned casualties in a relatively short period. Several unique medical aspects characterize toxicological mass disasters: casualties present a single disease entity with many "borderline" cases, most medical personnel are unfamiliar with the problem and casualties present a potential contamination hazard to the hospital. A hospital deployment scheme is presented recommending Decontamination, Triage and simple Treatment Algorithms to meet the medical and organizational challenge of such a mass casualty situation. A further specific deployment scheme for treatment of organophosphorus agents poisoning is described to illustrate the principles presented.