Citation

Quah LJJ, Pek JH, Cheng L, Lee CY, Teng DKP, Yeo MYW, Anantharaman V. Singapore Med. J. 2024; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2024, Singapore Medical Association)

DOI

10.4103/singaporemedj.SMJ-2023-019

PMID

38478733

Abstract

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines mass casualty incidents as "disasters and major incidents which overwhelm local medical resources and compromise standard medical care."[1] This differs from a smaller-scale multiple casualty event, where resources are strained but still sufficient to provide standard medical care.[2] An effective medical response is important to minimise deaths and injuries in a mass casualty incident. The need for a special branch of medicine dedicated to disasters was first recognised in 1975.[3]

In Singapore, high-rise buildings are vulnerable to strong seismic events.[4] Flooding also occurs.[5,6] Man-made disasters are more common. In the 1950s, there were frequent riots.[7,8] Other disasters include plane crash, terrorist bombing, tanker explosion, building collapse and train collision.[8] Singapore has also experienced novel infectious disease events, including the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak and the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.[9,10,11] Singapore continues to be at risk for mass casualty incidents and disasters; hence, it is important for the healthcare community to have a basic understanding of disaster response and management.[12]

This article aimed to document the history of mass casualty events in Singapore, apprise the current state of healthcare response and suggest plans for future development. ...

Language: en