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Emergency Response to Mass Casualty Incidents in Lebanon

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2013

Mazen J. El Sayed*
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, Emergency Medical Services and Prehospital Care Program, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to Mazen J. El Sayed, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine, American University of Beirut Medical Center, PO Box 11-0236, Riad El Solh 110 72020, Beirut, Lebanon (e-mail: [email protected]).

Abstract

The emergency response to mass casualty incidents in Lebanon lacks uniformity. Three recent large-scale incidents have challenged the existing emergency response process and have raised the need to improve and develop incident management for better resilience in times of crisis. We describe some simple emergency management principles that are currently applied in the United States. These principles can be easily adopted by Lebanon and other developing countries to standardize and improve their emergency response systems using existing infrastructure. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2013;0:1–6)

Type
Concepts in Disaster Medicine
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2013 

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