AMU Emergency Management Opinion Public Safety

Mass-Casualty Incidents: Making Sense of the Las Vegas Shooting

By Allison G. S. Knox
Contributor, EDM Digest

The first reports from Las Vegas on the night of the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history indicated that 20 people had died, and more than 100 were injured. Over the course of following day, more information was released from the Las Vegas Police Department, and the death toll rose substantially – to 59, with the amount injured topping 527.  The numbers following the Las Vegas shooting are absolutely staggering, especially considering just how premeditated an attack it was.

Mass-Casualty Incidents From An Emergency Management Perspective

Mass-casualty incidents are tragic. From an emergency management standpoint, they’re complicated. They require numerous considerations to effectively manage and control the situation. In some situations makeshift morgues are required, in other situations, different types of resources or training specialties are needed to effectively control the situation. The amount of considerations are often extensive, especially considering that no two mass casualty incidents are ever the same. So many different factors come together to effectively manage a mass casualty incident.

Considerations aside, the human element of mass-casualty incidents is particularly difficult to comprehend. For one, when a mass casualty incident happens, first responders, emergency medical technicians and paramedics, firefighters, police officers and numerous other personnel rush to the scene to immediately take control of the situation, and subsequently tend to the wounded and manage the incident accordingly. It is particularly difficult to comprehend what it would feel like to manage such an incident: so many patients with serious and life-threatening injuries while also following completely different protocols (based on your profession) for handling such an event.

Triage is Vital at Mass-Casualty Incidents

Triage becomes a priority, yet the real tragedy lies in the fact that because there are so many patients, paramedics simply can’t work patients the way they normally would if they didn’t have a mass casualty incident.  This is difficult to accept for those working the scene.

There aren’t any real words that can bring comfort to those that worked the emergency, those that were injured, and for the family, co-workers and friends of those lost in a mass casualty incident. It is difficult to make sense of a mass casualty incident because they are so sudden and always so tragic.  We’re left without any real answers, except the horrifying memories of a tragedy and the beautiful souls taken too early. The only thing left to do is to prevent future tragedies and to tighten emergency management plans.

Allison G.S. Knox

Allison G. S. Knox teaches in the fire science and emergency management departments at the University. Focusing on emergency management and emergency medical services policy, she often writes and advocates about these issues. Allison works as an Intermittent Emergency Management Specialist in the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response. She also serves as the At-Large Director of the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians, Chancellor of the Southeast Region on the Board of Trustees with Pi Gamma Mu International Honor Society in Social Sciences, chair of Pi Gamma Mu’s Leadership Development Program and Assistant Editor for the International Journal of Paramedicine. Prior to teaching, Allison worked for a member of Congress in Washington, D.C. and in a Level One trauma center emergency department. She is an emergency medical technician and holds five master’s degrees.

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