Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T02:14:27.850Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Emergency Medical Services System Activation of a Pre-Planned Disaster Response to an Airplane Crash

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2017

Lenworth M. Jacobs  and
Barbara R. Bennett
Lenworth M. Jacobs
Affiliation:
Department of Health and Hospitals, Boston City Hospital and the Department of Surgery, Boston University Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA 02215
Barbara R. Bennett
Affiliation:
Department of Health and Hospitals, Boston City Hospital and the Department of Surgery, Boston University Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA 02215
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The Emergency Medical Services (EMS) system response to a multiple victim disaster can be preplanned to identify various components, such as scene authority, communications, triage, vehicular staging, and point-of-entry of patients to area hospitals. On 1/23/82, a DC-10 airplane carrying 210 people, slid off the runway while landing at night on ice at Boston's Logan airport. The plane broke into two pieces after it slid into Boston Harbor; 33 patients required definitive medical management and were transported to 7 area hospitals. The Boston EMS system, coordinated through one Resource Trauma Center, utilizing a central communications center, was responsible for the medical component. Hospital categorization on-scene triage, patient staging, patient transportation and regionalization of resources have changed the City's plan to reflect new EMS developments.

On January 23, 1982, Boston experienced the final stages of a winter storm that began with snow followed by freezing rain. A plane with 198 passengers and 12 crew members was the last plane scheduled to land before the runway was closed for plowing and sanding. The DC-10 landed and slid off the runway into Boston Harbor. The plowing and sanding crew that was scheduled to service the runway was in position, and therefore witnessed the incident and confirmed the crash.

Type
Section Five—Disaster Events
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 1 , Issue 3 , Fall 1985 , pp. 313 - 318
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 1985

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Baker, F. The management of mass casualty disasters. Topics in Emerg Med 1979; 1:149–157.Google ScholarPubMed
2 Ballinger, WF, et al. The Management of Trauma. Chapter 23, “Mass Casualty Management.” Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders Publ., 1973.Google Scholar
3 Brismar, B, Bergenwald, L. The terrorist bomb explosion in Bologna, Italy, 1980: an analysis of the effects and injuries sustained. J Trauma 1982; 22:3.Google Scholar
4 Cohen, E. Triage 1982. J Emerg Med Services 1982; 78:24–28.Google Scholar
5Emergency Medical Services Systems Program Guidelines. U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare. Public Health Service. HSA Bureau of Medical Services, Division of Emergency Medical Services. DHEW Publ. No. 79-2002, August, 1979.Google Scholar
6 Hell, K, Pike, P. Training of pyysicians in disaster medicine. J World Assoc Emerg Disaster Med 1985; (suppl):106.Google Scholar
7 Jacobs, L, Bennett, B, Radtke, E. Ambulance service in the city of Boston: organization and utilization. Mass J Community Health 1980; 1:17–26.Google Scholar
8 Jacobs, L, Goody, M, Sinclair, A. The role of a trauma center in disaster management. J Trauma 1983 Google Scholar
9 Jenkins, AL. Emergency Department Organization and Management. Chapter 15 - Disaster Planning. St. Louis: C.V. Mosby Co., 1978.Google Scholar
10 Kulp, R. Preparing pre-hospital medical coverage for a papal visit. Emerg Health Services Quarterly. 1980; 1:111–129.Google Scholar
11 Lewis, F, Trunkey, D, Steele, M. Autopsy of a disaster: the Martinez bus accident. J Trauma 1980; 20:861–866.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12 Missan, S, Elder, R. Organization of surgical care of mass casualties. J Trauma 1971; 11:974–978.Google Scholar
13 Melton, R, Riner, RM. Revising the Rural Hospital Disaster Plan: A role for the EMS system in managing the multiple casualty incident. Ann Emerg Med 1981; 10:39–44.Google Scholar
14 Orr, S, Robinson, W. The Hyatt Disaster: two physicians perspective. J Emerg Nursing 1982; 8:6–11.Google Scholar
15 Quarantelli, EL. Disaster preparedness. J World Assoc Emerg Disaster Med 1985; (suppl): 118–121.Google Scholar