The Schoten Bus Accident: An Evaluation

Summary: On April 10, 2022, a touring car crashed on the highway and rolled over. Two passengers died on the scene. There were five U1 patients, mainly with traumatic amputations, two of them in profound shock. Five were U2 and thirteen were U3, and six were uninjured. The dispatch activated the disaster plan, and within eight minutes, responders were sent out. Although the location wasn’t clear and a traffic jam blocked the highway, the first medical teams arrived on the scene after 17.5 minutes. Within 20 minutes, three medical teams and five ambulances were on scene. Seven medical teams, six “112” ambulances, and nine Red Cross ambulances were deployed. One helicopter from another province was activated due to traffic problems. The Red Cross also activated support teams and a command-communication vehicle. The fire department applied tourniquets and passers-by, saving the lives of amputees. Patients were spread over nine hospitals, and because of severe, life-threatening lesions, the T1 patients were evacuated by the scoop and run system. Prominent was a lack of experience and limited disaster management education. Previous drill participation offered confidence. The victims’ multinationalism caused problems in communication and identification. Several medical teams had extra physicians on board, as the initial alarm was suggestive of many (seriously) injured patients, facilitating the scoop-and-run procedure. The helicopter was used for the patient in the most profound shock, although the estimated time of arrival wasn’t clear. Debriefing revealed the serious impact on the teams, stressing the importance of post-exposure support. The communication with the bus firm was difficult, so it wasn’t possible to obtain a passenger list. Although a SITREP is important, it was hard to get. The victims’ multinationalism needed communication with the respective embassies without fixed procedures. Return to normal action was fast, but with little chance to relax and cope.