Organizing the orthopaedic trauma association mass casualty response team.

Physicians and surgeons in the United States have become increasingly aware of the requirement for an organized response to mass casualty and disaster situations. This has not always been the case. The terrorist acts in Oklahoma City in 1995 and at the World Trade Center in 1993 and 2001 showed the inefficiencies and confusion of the civilian managed disaster response. Trauma surgeons are uniquely suited to play a leadership role in the planning and coordination of disaster care because of their integration in prehospital emergency medical systems and trauma centers. The Orthopaedic Trauma Association has developed strategies to facilitate the orthopaedic response to mass casualties and to develop an educated approach to disaster management. The current initiatives include the establishment of a link with the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma in addition to the development of training programs for orthopaedic surgeons as responders to disaster and mass casualty situations. A team of volunteer orthopaedic traumatologists also has been credentialed to become part of the National Disaster Medical System's International Medical-Surgical Response Team.