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Major Incidents: Examples and Experiences

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Medical Response to Major Incidents and Disasters

Abstract

As illustrated in Chap. 1, the occurrence of major incidents has significantly increased during recent decades, parallel to, and probably as a consequence of, the development of societies throughout the world. Incidents involving the health sector cover a wide spectrum of events, traditionally classified as either man-made (caused by man) or natural (caused by changes in nature or climate). Such a classification is less relevant today: So-called “man-made incidents,” such as transportation accidents, can be caused by climatic changes, and so-called “natural disasters” can be caused indirectly by human activities that result in changes in climate or inaccurate distribution of resources among different regions of the world. In addition, an increasing proportion of incidents, such as armed conflicts and terrorist attacks, are intentionally caused by human beings. This chapter, which describes examples of major incidents according to the definitions of “man made” or “natural disasters,” refers to these incidents as (a) those caused by the technical development in the communities, (b) those caused intentionally by man, and (c) those being a consequence of changes in climate and nature.

Summaries of experiences from all these kinds of events illustrate clearly that no country or region in the world, regardless of geographic locale, climate, economy, or political situation, is immune to them. One contributing factor is the development of global terrorism, a threat that has come to stay. As a result, health care staff in every part of the world, at any time and without any warning, can face the task of handling a number of severely injured or critically ill patients whose treatment far exceeds available resources and for which all of us has a responsibility to be prepared. These experiences also illustrate that, even if the character and extent of these incidents vary widely, they have in common the basic principles of management and performance, and thereby the demands on health care staff.

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References to Major Incidents and Disasters

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Linköping, Ängslyckestigen 4, 614 32, Söderköping, Sweden

    Sten Lennquist

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  1. Sten Lennquist
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  1. Ängslyckestigen 4, Söderköping, 614 32, Sweden

    Sten Lennquist

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Lennquist, S. (2012). Major Incidents: Examples and Experiences. In: Lennquist, S. (eds) Medical Response to Major Incidents and Disasters. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-21895-8_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-21895-8_2

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