Protecting Mental Health of Hospital Workers after Mass Casualty Events: A Social Work Imperative

On October 1, 2017, a mass shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada, ended with 58 concertgoers and the gunman killed, and almost 500 people injured. In recent years, other large-scale acts of violence have caused significant morbidity and mortality: 130 dead and over 400 injured in the coordinated attacks in Paris in 2015; three dead and over 250 injured in the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013. Such events are becoming both more common and more lethal. Indeed, between the initial drafting of this commentary in mid-October 2017 after the Las Vegas attack, and its submission to Social Work in mid-November 2017, a mass shooting occurred at a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, that left 26 dead (plus the gunman) and 20 injured. While this commentary was awaiting publication another mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, claimed the lives of 17 teenagers and educators and injured 17 others.