title: Critical care management of major disasters: a practical guide to disaster preparation in the intensive care unit.
abstract: Recent events and regulatory mandates have underlined the importance of medical planning and preparedness for catastrophic events. The purpose of this review is to provide a brief summary of current commonly identified threats, an overview of mass critical care management, and a discussion of resource allocation to provide the intensive care unit (ICU) director with a practical guide to help prepare and coordinate the activities of the multidisciplinary critical care team in the event of a disaster.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Madigan Army Medical Center, Tacoma, WA 98431, USA. shawn.corcoran@us.army.mil
authors.forename: Shawn P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Corcoran
authors.forename: Alexander S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Niven
authors.forename: Jason M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Reese
mesh_terms: D057189:Checklist; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003422:Critical Care / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards*; D004189:Disaster Planning / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004190:Disasters / Q000517:prevention & control; D004631:Emergency Medical Service Communication Systems; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004864:Equipment and Supplies; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units / Q000458:organization & administration; D054527:Mass Casualty Incidents / Q000517:prevention & control; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D040841:Resource Allocation / Q000600:supply & distribution; D013027:Space Maintenance, Orthodontic; D014218:Triage / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration; D014481:United States; D012122:Ventilators, Mechanical / Q000600:supply & distribution; D000078329:Workforce