Health Emergency Preparedness and Response

Australian Mass Casualty Burn Disaster Plan (AUSBURNPLAN)

AUSBURNPLAN Stategy Paper - Australian Mass Casualty Burn Disaster Plan, Prepared by Dr David Cooper, Chair National Burn Response Plan Working Party.

Australian Health Ministers' Conference (AHMC)
National Burns Planning and Coordinating Committee

The need for a national burn response plan is important given recent world terrorist events such as New York (2001), Bali (2002), and Madrid (2004). All three events highlight the fact that many patients suffered significant burn injuries as well as other multiple system trauma. Indeed, in the Bali bombing, 62 patients were admitted across Australia, occupying all adult burn beds. This extra patient surge occurred on the background of normal operations where severe burn patients from other incidents also required care.

Mass casualties from burns occur when fire and/or explosions interface with large numbers of people. In this context, the most likely hazards identified for Australia are fires and explosions in regard to transport, mass gatherings, high-density urban dwellings, mining, offshore oilrigs and acts of civil disturbance and terrorism. Natural disasters such as rural fires and earthquakes are also prominent. All mass casualty burn disasters resulted in catastrophic consequences so it is important to have formal plans at both a State/Territory and national level.

Historical analysis of terrorist events, where improvised explosive devices (IED’s) have been used, consistently demonstrates that up to 10-15% of the total live casualties have severe burn injury and other multiple trauma injuries requiring critical care/tertiary level burn services. On the basis of scenario planning and historical precedent, in a worst case scenario, with 2,000 live casualties, Australia will have to manage a surge of up to 300 severe burn injured patients. This will significantly challenge existing systems. This acute surge will occur in addition to existing patient activity (national incidence
approximately 7 per day) many of who require a protracted length of stay.

Australia has 12 major burn units with approximately 146 beds. There is one major burn unit in New Zealand at Middlemore Hospital in Auckland. Australia has a significant specialist workforce shortage, particularly in burns and a national approach will be necessary in managing a large-scale disaster.

AUSBURNPLAN should be taken in the context of overall multiple trauma management and can be regarded as a generic mass casualty plan.

PDF printable version of Australian Mass Casualty Burn Disaster Plan (AUSBURNPLAN) (PDF 451 KB)


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