A mass casualty incident (MCI) is an event that overwhelms the available medical resources due to a large number of casualties, typically requiring immediate medical attention and exceeding the normal capacity of emergency response systems. MCIs mandate the immediate transition from the daily working routine in a hospital to crisis mode through the implementation of an emergency preparedness plan (EPP). Following an MCI, hospitals must anticipate chaos and a large influx of patients, some with life-threatening injuries that require fast decision-making. Lebanon is a low-resource country that has already been suffering from the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and an ongoing economic crisis. This study reviews the EPP of the Lebanese American University Medical Center in response to an MCI that resulted from the "Beirut blast" disaster.
Keywords: beirut blast; disaster; emergency medicine; emergency preparedness plan; mass casualty incident.
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