On December 3, 2024, the Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) conducted a readiness exercise to enhance its capacity for managing mass casualty incidents. The exercise was carried out across six PHCC health centers: Al Sadd, Leabaib, Al Mashaf, Qatar University, Muaither, and Al Wajbah, from 10:30 AM to 5:30 PM.

Mass casualty incidents pose significant challenges to healthcare systems, requiring effective preparedness and response strategies. Such incidents can result from natural disasters, terrorist attacks, unnatural accidents, or pandemics, leading to an overwhelming number of victims that exceed the capacity of local emergency services.

The increasing frequency and complexity of these events underscore the importance of regular training and simulation exercises to bolster the readiness of healthcare facilities and their staff.

Assessing the Current System’s Performance

The primary goal of the comprehensive mass casualty management exercise was to evaluate the performance of the current system in handling a mass casualty incident affecting PHCC health centers. It aimed to validate the effectiveness of existing plans and protocols, identify strengths to reinforce, address weaknesses, and enhance collaboration and communication across departments to achieve shared goals.

Exercise Objectives

• Assess the efficiency and effectiveness of the Major Incident Command Center (MICC) in activating, coordinating, and managing health centers during mass casualty incidents.
• Evaluate the ability of community healthcare center and emergency response team to effectively activate and manage clinical operations, resource allocation, security services, and business continuity during a mass casualty incident.
• Assess the ability of health centers to manage victims of mass casualty incidents efficiently and safely.
• Evaluate the capacity of health centers to handle visitors and media during mass casualty incidents.
• Test the capability of health centers to mobilize, utilize, and demobilize resources effectively during a mass casualty incident.
• Build capacity and provide a realistic training environment for healthcare staff.
• Simulate realistic scenarios with victims of varying degrees of injury and the simultaneous management of visitors and media during mass casualty incidents.
• Strengthen readiness and improve collaboration protocols and communication systems across various departments.
• Assess the efficiency and effectiveness of the MICC in activating, coordinating, and managing health centers during mass casualty incidents.

Simulating a Realistic Scenario

The exercise simulated a realistic mass casualty incident using a scenario that involved role-playing by real actors to mimic the impact of the event on health centers. In addition to the six health centers, the exercise also engaged MICC and lasted approximately seven hours, from 10:30 AM to 5:30 PM.

Expected Outcomes

• Increased readiness and capacity to respond to mass emergencies within PHCC health centers.
• Improved collaboration protocols and communication systems among various departments.
• Clear identification of resource and logistical needs for responding to mass casualty incidents.
• Enhanced confidence, communication, and cooperation among departments and healthcare teams in handling emergency scenarios, with a clear understanding of roles and responsibilities during mass casualty incidents.