Lessons Learned from Recent Terror Attacks

Recent terrorist attacks around the world highlight the changing frequency and nature of such attacks against civilians. Systems designed to deal with mass casualties from natural weather disasters and transportation crashes must be ready to address sophisticated terrorist attacks on multiple settings and at different intervals. Experts who dealt with recent attacks in Paris, Brussels, and Boston gathered at a conference and produced four recommendations to improve preparedness:

1. Develop a structured after-action review process, perhaps modeled after the National Transportation Safety Board's review of civil aviation crashes.

2. Improve bystander education about tourniquet application and hemorrhage control.

3. For healthcare providers, require unive…