Mass Casualty Incidents (MCI) are Considered Overwhelming Events

Mass Casualty Incidents (MCI) are Considered Overwhelming Events
Mass casualty incidents (MCI) are considered overwhelming events, majorly when the number of patients or victims in a community affected exceeds the resources needed to serve the population. In most cases, mass casualty incidents re usually centered on the capacity of medical institutions to handle the load therein. In that case, there is a significant need for exceptional emergency arrangements and extra wide-scale assistance. MCI could occur due to the outcomes of numerous disasters- either natural or man-made based like terrorist attacks (Hill, 2008). Whatever the cause of a situation, the main feature of MCI is the number of victims who disrupt the normal functioning of care and intervention processes. In this paper, a significant focus is on analyzing security, government relations, and philanthropic issues connected with mass casualty incidents in the Colorado community.
Security Issues
In any community sector, including healthcare systems, receiving victims of MCI is coupled with incredible and exceptional challenges. Facilities in Colorado that have encountered tragedies within the community have notable issues like security. During crises, the need to provide adequate safety to protect people, criminal evidence, and available community resources arises. An adequate supply of security aid organizations in executing management plans efficiently (Koenig & Schultz, 2016). The entire security sphere does not merely count on protection from law enforcement teams alone. Instead, it relies on numerous personnel to detect, assess and report suspicious events or activities. For instance, security measures count on reporting from diverse sources, including community members, to inform authorities of notable suspicious acts. Such is essential should the perpetrator be among the community members or in close contact.
Like other areas of emergency preparedness, law enforcement and coordination to reinforce safety begins before an MCI. Officers from local regions and departments familiarize themselves with operation protocols and organization layouts. Tours to local law enforcement and participation in drill exercises allow the building of solid working relationships before MCIs. Hospitals that activate large MCIs are tasked with contacting local police stations to notify the current or expected situations. However, challenges can arise based on the nature or magnitude of incidents, that resources of jurisdictional law enforcement might not be available.
Government Relations
Colorado is one of the states in the country that is so often affected by forest fires, which in turn means possible mass casualty incidents. The annual forest fires usually raze through some portions of the region, leaving behind destruction and even possible fatalities. While responses to critical events are primarily local, leadership from state and federal governments is paramount during emergency management. From a federal standpoint, there is a significant role to adjudicate across regions and interstate jurisdictions for exhaustive guidance in communities (The United States. Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2017). A state like Colorado has to assume the responsibility for ascertaining that the needs of local crisis responders, including healthcare givers, are measured and sufficiently met. In such cases, the role of government leadership is to facilitate realistic services and show the public the capabilities to act in crises with current resources (Dorn et al., 2006). Thus, the need for government support in MCI management at numerous levels is compelling.
In ensuring that the government’s efforts go according to plan, there is need for a proper communication channel through setting up of a...