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Comment by dalben | Hacker News Reader

Interesting that he had to do so much thinking and improvising. I'm an EMT in Belgium, and every hospital here has to have plans for mass casualty events. Ambulance bays are built to be transformed into a triage ward, spare beds are kept close, often there's a dedicated command room, ...

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As Eisenhower put it: "Peace-time plans are of no particular value, but peace-time planning is indispensable."

In other words, the act of planning means you're better prepared for specific contingencies, so you'll hopefully be better prepared for whatever actually happens, but some improvisation will always be necessary.

100%. As another wise man once said, "everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth."

The planning may be directly applicable in whole, is almost certainly applicable in part but in my opinion the main thing is that it provides a template for thinking about what things are important and which are expendable when you're operating in an environment with a greater tolerance for risk.

There is a rather large difference to having plans and dealing with an actual incident. Not to bicker, but a dedicated command room sounds like a fun plan but the opposite of what was needed in the incident described in this story.

Events like this are much more common than you may think, though rarely as severe as this shooting. From fires at retirement homes and even at an ED once, bus crashes, WWII bombs surfacing during construction, floods… it almost becomes routine. I can assure you the plans are not built not academics but are refined through experience. And in a weird way, disaster response almost becomes routine.

Yeah it seemed very hands on , running around finding issues, getting people on them etc.

At the Luton airport they have these big "mass casualty event" supply boxes on the walls. Presumably full of supplies to provide efficient first aid after such an event on the spot.

As I was writing this comment I learned that they were inspired by a bombing which happened in Brussels: https://www.shponline.co.uk/fire-safety-and-emergency/mascal...

One of those things you hope will never need to be used. But if it is ever needed it will be very handy.

With respect from Canada, I doubt you are seeing many incidents with 200+ gunshot victims in Belgium

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Brussels_bombings

I stand corrected

We do not! The US is a loved destination for training placements and exchanges because you can see so many stabbings and shootings in one shift.

However, a shooting is just one type of mass casualty event.

> I'm an EMT in Belgium

It always happens eventually in discussions like this. "I'm from <country in Europe> and I don't get why y'all are so stupid, unlike us."

The US healthcare system is worthy of critique for many things, most of all cost, but the quality of care is just as good as every other western nation. Doctors are quite skilled, just like they are in Belgium I assume. And of course hospitals plan for mass casualty events. All of them, I bet, if they have an ER.

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