title: Suicide bombings: process of care of mass casualties in the developing world.
abstract: In recent times Pakistan's biggest city, Karachi, has witnessed numerous terrorist attacks. The city does not have an emergency response system and only one of the three public sector hospitals has a trauma centre. We describe the pattern of injuries and management of two terror-related mass casualty incidents involving suicide bombers in a developing nation with limited resources. The first incident occurred in May 2002 with 36 casualties, of whom 13 (36%) died immediately and 11 (30.5%) died at the primary receiving hospitals. The second incident was targeted against the local population in May 2004. The blast resulted in 104 casualties, of which 14 (13.46%) died at the site. All patients had their initial assessment and treatment based on Advanced Trauma and Life Support principles and documented on a trauma form.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi 74800, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Masood
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Umer
authors.forename: Yasir J
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Sepah
authors.forename: Munira M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Shahpurwala
authors.forename: Hasnain
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zafar
mesh_terms: D001753:Blast Injuries; D054042:Bombs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003906:Developing Countries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D054527:Mass Casualty Incidents / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010154:Pakistan; D012066:Relief Work / Q000458:organization & administration*; D013405:Suicide / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D023481:Terrorism / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015599:Trauma Severity Indices