Simulation study of a low‐tech and reliable identification coding method for mass casualties

摘要

Aim To evaluate the ease of use, reliability, and duplication risks of a new identification ( ID ) coding method, which works for mass casualty events such as disaster scenes. Methods The new ID code consisted of 16 alphanumeric characters: seven characters for the responder's information and nine for the casualty, which can be created in a very low‐tech manner without using any electronic devices. A simulated triage was carried out for virtual causalities by students of the same grade at our university's medical school. Each participant was instructed to triage and create ID s for the same 10 virtual casualties. Eighty‐nine participants created a total of 890 ID s, which were examined for correct coding and ID duplication rates. Results Despite situations in which the risk of duplication might be considered high, complete duplication of ID s occurred in only one case (0.2%), and the other 888 ID s (99.8%) were unique. The simulation was done in a reasonable amount of time without any confusion. Conclusions In the mass casualty incident triage simulation, our new coding method proved easy and useful in creating ID s with an extremely low duplication rate. To develop this method for broader use, further evaluation is needed in more simulations and real disaster situations. We reported a simulation study to evaluate a new identification coding method, which works for mass casualty events such as disaster scenes. In the simulated triage, our method proved easy and useful in creating identification codes with an extremely low duplication rate, without specific tools.