Teaching medical care in mass casualty incidents through advanced clinical simulation

Introduction

The threat of intentional mass casualty incidents remains high, making healthcare response a priority. The Hartford Consensus and the THREAT protocol (Threat suppression, Hemorrhage control, Rapid Extrication to safety, Assessment by medical providers, Transport to definitive care) establish recommended actions. A key objective is training civilians as "immediate responders" for hemorrhage control. However, this emergency care training is often limited in medical schools. Francisco de Vitoria University incorporates clinical simulation, including emergency medicine content in the fifth year. This study aims to assess learning outcomes from an activity designed to familiarize students with the Hartford Consensus and THREAT protocol.