Medical teams coordinate with one another to accommodate victims during mass casualty events

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- During a mass casualty event, emergency medical response is crucial. Just as law enforcement officials train to handle protocols, so do medical teams.

When something big happens like this week's school shooting at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, it's all hands-on deck for local medical professionals.

From EMS teams in the field to doctors and nurses back at the hospital, everyone steps up and oftentimes health officials who have the day off will even make themselves available if needed.

By the time victims start arriving at local hospitals, medical teams are waiting for them and prepared to treat injuries immediately upon arrival. Dr. Jeff Pothof at UW Health says it's all a process of the local health systems working with first responders following the notification of a potential mass casualty event.

"There's a quick process…basically it allows us to within minutes understand what the immediate capability or capacity of local hospitals --- who's challenged, who's not challenged or what can we do in short order. We're talking minutes to create capacity," said Dr. Pothof.

Often in these tragic situations, it's not a matter of each individual hospital making adjustments to accommodate potential victims, but each health system in the community coordinates with one another to ensure fast and efficient medical care is available.

Dr. Pothof says this school shooting has rocked the community and greatly impacted many. "We all try to tell ourselves that these kind of things can't happen in our backyards, even though we know that it can but then when it does ...it's pretty awful," he said.