Averting healthcare network catastrophe

Systems thinking and modeling are critical to design smarter responses to mass casualty disasters

By Maria T. Bull and Serge N. Sala-Diakanda

Mass casualty disasters, whether they are man-made (terrorist attacks) or natural calamities (earthquakes) affect not only a great number of people, they cause significant disruptions in the hour-by-hour operations of critical infrastructures such as hospitals, fire stations, police stations and ambulances. Infrastructures closest to the disaster scene may experience a significant loss in their capacity due to damage to their structures or the sudden lack of basic services such as water, electricity and communication channels. Although these infrastructures usually have plans for such events, the public at large generally is not prepared to respond adequately when a catastrophe hits.