Prehospital Care Algorithm for Blast Injuries due to Bombing Incidents

Terrorist bombings continue to remain a risk for local jurisdictions, and retrospective data from the United States show that bombings occur in residen tial and business areas due to interpersonal violence without political motives. In the event of a mass-casualty bombing incident, prehospital care providers will have the responsibility for identifying and managing blast injuries unique to bombing victims. In a large-scale event, emergency medical services person nel should be required to provide prolonged medical care in the prehospital setting, and they will be able to deliver improved care with a better understanding of blast injuries and a concise algorithm for managing them. Blast injuries are categorized as primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary, and these injuries are related to the mechanism of injury from the blast event. After an initial evaluation, the emergency healthcare provider should consid er following a universal algorithm to identify and treat blast injuries within these categories to prevent further morbidity or mortality in the prehospital setting. Kapur GB, Pillow MT, Nemeth I: Prehospital care algorithm for blast injuries due to bombing incidents. Prehosp Disaster Med 2010;25(6):595‐600.