Conventional and Interventional Radiology in Mass Casualty Incidents

Dealing with MCI has become an increasingly important aspect of modern medicine due to the increase in terrorist and other mass casualty acts. Thus, almost every hospital is expected to be prepared for such incidents [1] which are usually caused by motor vehicle accidents, explosions, shootings, earthquakes, and other naturally caused disasters [2]. Estimates show a continuous rise of terrorist acts: According to the second edition of Global Terrorism Index, there was a five-fold increase in the number of people killed by terrorism from 2000 to 2013, resulting in approximately 18,000 deaths. Some well-known examples of the largest MCIs since 2000 including natural and man-made disasters are: the 9/11 Twin Tower attack (New York, 2001), the Indian Ocean tsunami (2004), the Madrid train bombings (2004), the hurricane Katrina (New Orleans, 2005), the Christchurch earthquake (New Zealand, 2011), the Rana Plaza collapse (Bangladesh, 2013), the Ebola outbreak (West Africa, 2014), the Mina stampede (Mecca 2015), and the Paris terrorist shootings (2015) [1].