Mass casualty management in disaster scene: a systematic review of OR&MS research in humanitarian operations

Disasters are usually managed through a four-phase cycle including mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. The first two phases happen before a disaster and the last two after it. This survey focuses on casualty management (CM), which is one of the actions taken in the response phase of a disaster. Right after a severe disaster strikes, we may be confronted with a large number of casualties in a very short period of time. These casualties are in need of urgent treatment and their survival depends on a rapid response. Therefore, managing resources in the first few hours after a disaster is critical and efficient CM can significantly increase the survival rate of casualties. Uncertainty in the location of a disaster, disruption to transportation networks, scarcity of resources and possible deaths of rescue and medical teams due to the disaster in such situations make it hard to manage casualties. In this survey, we focus on CM for disasters where the following five steps are taken respectively: (i) Resource dispatching/search and rescue, (ii) on-site triage, (iii) on-site medical assistance, (iv) transportation to hospitals and (v) triage and comprehensive treatment. With a special focus on Operations Research (OR) techniques, we categorize the existing research papers and case studies in each of these steps. Then, by critically observing and investigating gaps, trends and the practicality of the extant research studies, we suggest future directions for academics and practitioners.