Medical Professionals Prepared to Deal with Mass Casualties

Kevin Tripp
KTAR
April 17th, 2007 12:16 PM

Valley medical professionals say they are prepared for the kind of incident that happened at Virgina Tech.

They deal with mass casualties all the time.

You hear about it all the time. A van full of illegal immigrants rolling over. When that many people are injured, it's a mass casualty incident.

"Here at Maricopa Medical Center, this is what we do," said Dr. Marc Matthews, director of trauma services at Maricopa Medical Center. "We see these mass casualties, if not once a month, then once every two months."

"When you have a van roll over with illegals and 20 or 30 people are hurt, or somebody fills up their pick-up truck bed with a bunch of people in the back, you know 10 or 12 people, and they're thrown out when there's a rollover," Matthews said. "We see this all the time."

Matthews said if a mass casualty incident happens, first responders put the word out to all the hospitals.

"So, we're ready for that surge of patients that then comes in," Matthews said.

He said extensive training on the local and state level means Valley hospitals are ready for any mass casualty - at any time.

Last updated on December 3, 2008