International comparison of burn medical care systems and emergency response plans for burn mass casualty incidents

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to compare and learn from the burn care systems and emergency response plans for burn mass casualty incidents (BMCI) across developed countries. Methods: Based on the availability of English information, the United States, United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Australia were selected for comparison with Taiwan. Two categories are compared across the 5 countries: the basic medical care systems for burn patients, and emergency response plans for BMCIs. Results: In contrast to Taiwan, the United States, Australia, United Kingdom, and Switzerland have established basic burn care systems and regional or national emergency response plans for BMCIs. The number of layers within both burn care systems and nation-wide emergency response plans for BMCIs varies from country to country. Emergency response plans for BMCIs in Australia was designed with two levels, and with three levels in Switzerland, four levels in the United States, and six levels in the United Kingdom. In denselypopulated metropolitan areas such as New York City, hospitals are divided into four levels of burn care abilities as part of the regional emergency response plan for BMCIs. Conclusions: Based on the results of the study and the characteristics of Taiwan's metropolitan population and medical care systems, the article recommends referring to the burn-center regional emergency response plans for BMCIs of New York City to develop a regional to national BMCI plans, and ranking method for burn care capabilities of hospitals as a short to medium-term improvement goal for Taiwan's burn care system.