Systematic literature review of templates for reporting prehospital major incident medical management

Abstract

ObjectiveTo identify and describe the content of templates for reporting prehospital major incident medical management.DesignSystematic literature review according to PRISMA guidelines.Data sourcesPubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Scopus and Web of Knowledge. Grey literature was also searched.Eligibility criteria for selected studiesTemplates published after 1 January 1990 and up to 19 March 2012. Non-English language literature, except Scandinavian; literature without an available abstract; and literature reporting only psychological aspects were excluded.ResultsThe main database search identified 8497 articles, among which 8389 were excluded based on title and abstract. An additional 96 were excluded based on the full-text. The remaining 12 articles were included in the analysis. A total of 107 articles were identified in the grey literature and excluded. The reference lists for the included articles identified five additional articles. A relevant article published after completing the search was also included. In the 18 articles included in the study, 10 different templates or sets of data are described: 2 methodologies for assessing major incident responses, 3 templates intended for reporting from exercises, 2 guidelines for reporting in medical journals, 2 analyses of previous disasters and 1 Utstein-style template.ConclusionsMore than one template exists for generating reports. The limitations of the existing templates involve internal and external validity, and none of them have been tested for feasibility in real-life incidents.Trial registrationThe review is registered in PROSPERO (registration number: CRD42012002051).

Indoor fire in a nursing home: evaluation of the medical response to a mass casualty incident based on a standardized protocol

“…A systematic review compared different available protocols of standardized reporting [14] and we chose this protocol because it was developed to report real incidents, has a practical approach, is freely available, has been published [1,15,16] and has been used previously [10,17,18]. Other protocols are more extensive but less practical, such as the Utstein template [19], the DISAST-CIR, a protocol used by the Israeli Defense Force Home Front and Ministry of Health [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28] and two unused protocols [29,30].…”

“…Other protocols are more extensive but less practical, such as the Utstein template [19], the DISAST-CIR, a protocol used by the Israeli Defense Force Home Front and Ministry of Health [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28] and two unused protocols [29,30]. None of these protocols have been tested on Internal and external validity [14].…”

Experience With a Novel, Global, Open-Access Template for Major Incidents: Qualitative Feasibility Study

“…1 Structured sharing of experiences can improve preparedness and save lives, and more structured reporting of major incidents has been requested. [2][3][4][5] Based on findings in a systematic review, 6 a consensus-based template for reporting prehospital medical response to major incidents was developed. 7 The purpose of the template is to gather standardized data that can improve future prehospital responses to major incidents.…”

Major incidents in England

“…5 10 11 In 2013, a systematic literature review was carried out on 10 articles that gave reporting guidelines or templates. 12 It found a great deal of heterogeneity between the guidelines, and the internal and external validity of the proposed methods varied. At the time of publishing, only three of them had been implemented in real life major incidents, and none had been tested for feasibility.…”

“…At the time of publishing, only three of them had been implemented in real life major incidents, and none had been tested for feasibility. 12 One reason for the delay in the acceptance of an international standard for reporting major incidents is the uncertainty about what constitutes essential data. This can be ascertained only once existing templates are put into practice and used to report on real life incidents.…”