incident (MCI). A second alarm was ordered, and the mass casualty unit was dispatched. Additional ambulances and EMS supervisors were dispatched and responded to the accident site. Two EMS collection points were established. The first time stamp in a patient's hospital chart occurred at 9:57 p.m.
A Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) chief inspector and the director of the Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management (OEM) were liaisons from their departments to the incident commander. Because the accident was classified as an MCI, the chief inspector confirmed that all available emergency patrol wagons were sent to the scene in the event that additional transport vehicles were needed. According to the chief inspector, the PPD policy is to coordinate patient transportation with the Philadelphia Fire Department's (PFD) EMS. The chief inspector reported that after the accident many people on the train tried to leave the site immediately. He said that if officers encountered a seriously injured person, the officers transported the patient to a hospital.
1.9.2 Transportation of the Injured
Of the 253 people on train 188, 186 (one of whom later died) were transported to area hospitals for medical care. Interviews with occupants, hospital staff, and PFD personnel and a review of the medical and EMS records revealed the majority of the injured were transported to hospitals in police vehicles or SEPTA buses. According to the PFD, only 24 people were transported by ambulance. Only 3 of the 43 people with serious injuries had an ambulance transport chart showing they were transported to the hospital by ambulance. In addition, the injured were unevenly distributed across nearby trauma centers and hospitals; the trauma center at Temple University Hospital received at least 43 patients. (See figure 10 and compare with figure 11.)[1] As explained later in this section, overutilizing some hospitals while leaving others underutilized is not ideal for treatment of accident victims or other patients.
- ↑ Figure 10 compares the number of patients who went to each facility with serious injuries, minor injuries, and none. The category "none" denotes patients who went to the hospital but were released after a determination that they had no injuries.
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