Mass Casualty/Multi-Casualty Incidents (MCI)

What is a MCI?

A MCI or “mass casualty incident” or “multi-casualty incident” is an incident that overwhelms standard response capabilities.

The definition of a MCI is purposefully vague to allow for flexibility. The definition does NOT include any set number of victims because the resources and capabilities of each jurisdiction may vary greatly.

For example, a motor vehicle accident with five injured patients occurring in an urban setting where there are multiple hospitals and EMS units may not add additional stress to the system. However, the same motor vehicle accident with five injured patients occuring in a rural setting with one EMS unit and one hosptail may overwhelm the system.

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During an MCI, you may need to practice disaster triage to identify the victims who would most benefit from interventions.