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Pediatric Mass Casualty Incident and a Critical Care Response

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2025

Kellie C. Snooks Open the ORCID record for Kellie C. Snooks [Opens in a new window] ,
Kelsey Wehrenberg ,
Kari Rajzer-Wakeham ,
Heather Nelson ,
Charles Rothschild ,
Prakadeshwari Rajapreyar ,
Maureen Luetje ,
Matthew C. Scanlon ,
Tara L. Petersen  and
Michael T. Meyer
Kellie C. Snooks*
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA
Kelsey Wehrenberg
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
Kari Rajzer-Wakeham
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA
Heather Nelson
Affiliation:
Children’s Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA
Charles Rothschild
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA
Prakadeshwari Rajapreyar
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA Department of Pediatrics, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
Maureen Luetje
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA
Matthew C. Scanlon
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA
Tara L. Petersen
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA
Michael T. Meyer
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA
*
Corresponding author: Kellie C. Snooks; Email: ksnooks@mcw.edu
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Abstract

The authors offer reflections and lessons learned in a single pediatric tertiary center’s experience during a pediatric mass casualty incident (MCI). The MCI occurred at a holiday parade and the patients were brought to multiple community emergency departments for initial resuscitation prior to transfer to the Pediatric level 1 trauma center. In total, 18 children presented with severe blunt force trauma after a motor vehicle entered the parade route. Following initial triage in emergency departments, 10 of 18 children injured during the incident were admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, collectively representing a system-wide stressor of emergency medicine, critical care, and surgical services. Institutional characteristics, activation of personnel and supplies, and psychosocial support for families during an MCI are important to consider in children’s hospitals’ disaster preparedness planning.

Keywords

Disaster PlanningMass Casualty IncidentCritical CarePediatricsPolytrauma
Type
Report from the Field
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 19 , 2025 , e27
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc

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