Burn Mass Casualty Incident Planning in Alberta: A Case Study
Date
2023-04-04
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Abstract
There is a lack of burn mass casualty incident (BMCI) preparedness across Canada. Alberta has three important elements which make it ready to be the first province with a BMCI response plan: a singular health authority to plan for, two burn centres, and updated health technology. A focused exploration of the current policies, protocols, and practices that address the provincial response to a BMCI was conducted. In this case study, data were gathered from documents outlining the health system response to a mass casualty incident and health care professionals directly involved in the response. Interviews were conducted online, recorded, and transcribed. Qualitative description was used to code common themes across documents and transcripts. Fifteen documents and nine participant interviews were included in this study. Only three documents included burn-specific considerations. Overall, the current policies, protocols, and practices in place were limited to all-hazards mass casualty incident planning and did not address the specialized needs of burn patients. Some major deficiencies identified included lack of a formalized burn-specific plan at each of the two burn centres, a lack of provincial-level recognition of the unique challenges associated with a BMCI, and the lack of an established Canadian burn disaster network. Suggestions to address the space, staffing, and supplies necessary to care for BMCI patients were proposed. For best patient outcomes the provincial health authority needs to support BMCI response planning efforts to better address this unique hazard prior to an incident occurring.
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Keywords
Burn, Disaster
Citation
Fuchko, D. H. (2023). Burn mass casualty incident planning in Alberta: a case study (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.