To the Editor: The Model Uniform Core Criteria for Mass Casualty Triage, proposed by Lerner et al,Reference Lerner, Cone and Weinstein1 are a useful and vital component of our national preparedness. We commend Dr Lerner and her colleagues for their thorough research and thoughtful analysis.
Our nation's trauma system is the backbone of its response to a mass-casualty incident. The trauma system has the ability to mobilize the multidisciplinary medical providers necessary to respond to any disaster, regardless of etiology. The trauma system, made up of a network of prehospital providers and designated trauma centers, will be the first line of response to any incident. To provide rapid assessment, treatment, and transfer of injured victims, responders from multiple ambulance services and hospitals must be able to communicate consistently, and these national criteria promote this ability.
The Trauma Center Association of America is a nonprofit trade association representing several hundred trauma centers and trauma systems dedicated to fostering the development of a national system of trauma care so that proximate access to the appropriate level of trauma care for seriously injured individuals is ensured. The Trauma Center Association of America joins in endorsing the Model Uniform Core Criteria and will work with its membership to implement the criteria in mass-casualty response plans.
