CERT U4 MED OP STUDY GUIDE

CERT Disaster Medical Operations Unit 4: Mass Casualty Incidents (MCI)

MCI Response Overview

Professional Responders’ Responsibilities:

• Establish command and control of the incident area.

• Conduct a scene size-up and setup.

• Direct survivors to treatment areas.

• Identify and treat survivors with life-threatening injuries immediately.

• Identify deceased victims and those too severely injured to save.

• Manage medical transportation.

• Secure the area to protect responders, survivors, and evidence.

• Remove debris and other safety or health threats.

CERT Volunteers’ Responsibilities:

• Put on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

• Locate the nearest professional responder and introduce yourself.

• Communicate your CERT affiliation and ask how you can help.

• If told to leave, report to your CERT Team Leader.

• If no professionals are available, assess the situation and provide life-saving interventions as necessary, reporting your actions to professionals upon their arrival.

Medical Treatment Areas

Types of Medical Treatment Areas:

1. Decentralized:

• Set up near damaged sites when many injured survivors are spread across several locations.

• Allows for immediate treatment close to where injuries occur.

• Influenced by severity of damage, number of injuries, safety, accessibility, and potential for expansion.

2. Centralized:

• Established when there are few injured survivors at multiple sites, allowing for logical consolidation.

• Includes treatment areas and a morgue for effective use of resources.

Determining Factors:

• Severity of damage.

• Number of injuries.

• Safety of the environment.

• Accessibility for transportation vehicles.

• Expandability of the treatment area.

Light Search and Rescue

Assessment of Buildings:

• Categorize damage as Light, Moderate, or Heavy.

Head to Toe Assessment (DCAPBTLS):

• DCAPBTLS:

• Deformities

• Contusions

• Abrations

• Punctures/Penetrations

• Burns

• Tenderness

• Lacerations

• Swelling

Order of Assessment:

• Head, Neck, Shoulders, Chest, Arms, Abdomen, Pelvis, Legs.

Assessment Considerations:

• Verbalize your actions.

• Assess all survivors.

• Look, listen, and feel.

• Ask for permission before touching.

Signs of Closed Head Injury

Indicators:

• Change in consciousness.

• Inability to move one or more body parts.

• Severe pain or pressure in the head, neck, or back.

• Tingling or numbness in extremities.

• Difficulty breathing or seeing.

• Heavy bleeding, bruising, or deformity of the head and spine.

• Blood or fluid in the nose or ears.

• Bruising behind the ears or around the eyes (raccoon eyes).

• Uneven pupils.

• Seizures.

• Nausea or vomiting.

Maintaining Hygiene

Key Practices:

• Wear gloves, N95 masks, and goggles.

• Wash hands and use sanitizer frequently.

• Keep dressings sterile.

• Wash areas that come into contact with body fluids.

• Control disposal of bacterial sources:

• Place waste in plastic bags, tie them off, and mark as medical waste.

• Bury human waste.

• Avoid touching anything warm, wet, and not yours.

Purifying Water

Methods:

• Boil water for 1 minute.

• Use bleach: 8 drops per gallon (16 if dirty); let stand for 30 minutes.

• Use water purification tablets.

Knowledge Checks

Water Sanitation:

• Boil water for 1 minute.

• Use purification tablets.

• Use non-perfumed bleach for treatment.

Test Questions

1. MCI Response: Conduct a size-up and provide life-saving interventions if safe. Identify yourself to a professional responder and communicate relevant information.

2. Sanitization Maintenance: Dispose of waste in plastic bags, tie them off, mark them as “medical waste,” and control bacterial source disposal.

3. Signs of Closed Head Injury: Change in consciousness, raccoon eyes, inability to move body parts.

4. First Step in Size-Up: Gather information.

5. True Statement: Establish a medical treatment area by selecting a site and treatment area as soon as survivors are confirmed.

6. Hygiene Maintenance: Wash hands and wear gloves.

7. Considerations for Treatment Area: Ensure it is free of hazards, resources are effectively used, transportation is accessible, and it is expandable.

8. Wait Time for Bleach Purification: 30 minutes before using water purified with bleach.

9. Injury Management: For closed head/neck/spinal injuries, minimize movement; move only if in danger.

10. True Statement: For MCI, provide life-saving interventions only if professional responders are not available.