MASS CASUALTY INCIDENT (MCI) DRILL — PLANNING CHECKLIST
Youfers · https://youfers.com/guides/mass-casualty-incident-training

A one-page reference for planning, running, and reviewing an MCI drill.
Copy it, adapt it to your department, and keep the completed copy with the
after-action report.


1. DEFINE THE DRILL
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[ ] Objective written in one sentence (what must the team be able to do after this?)
[ ] Drill type chosen: tabletop / functional / full-scale
[ ] MCI level to simulate (patient count vs. your normal capacity)
[ ] Scenario and mechanism of injury (blast, collision, chemical, structural...)
[ ] Casualty load, arrival pattern, and injury mix
[ ] Start state: staffing, beds occupied, resources already committed
[ ] Duration and hard stop time


2. SCOPE AND ROLES
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[ ] Departments and units in scope
[ ] Incident commander and command staff named
[ ] Triage, treatment, and transport leads named
[ ] Evaluators / controllers assigned, one per area
[ ] Safety officer with authority to pause the drill
[ ] Participants briefed on what is simulated vs. real


3. MEASUREMENT PLAN (decide BEFORE the drill)
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[ ] Time to first triage complete
[ ] Time to declare MCI and activate the plan
[ ] Triage accuracy (over- and under-triage rate)
[ ] Resource use vs. physical limits (CT throughput, OR, ICU beds)
[ ] Decision log: who decided what, and when
[ ] Method for capturing the above (observers, forms, or simulation record)


4. LOGISTICS
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[ ] Date, time, location, and space reservations
[ ] Moulage, simulated patients, or patient cards prepared
[ ] Communications plan and backup (radio, phone, runner)
[ ] Notification to staff, administration, and any external partners
[ ] "This is a drill" signage and messaging
[ ] Real-patient contingency: how live care continues during the drill


5. RUN
------
[ ] Pre-brief delivered
[ ] Clock started; scenario injects released on schedule
[ ] Evaluators recording against the measurement plan
[ ] Safety officer monitoring; pause criteria clear
[ ] Hot wash held immediately after the stop


6. AFTER-ACTION
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[ ] After-action report drafted within 2 weeks
[ ] Findings tied to the measurement plan, not impressions
[ ] Corrective actions with an owner and a due date
[ ] Plan updated; changes communicated
[ ] Next drill scheduled to test the same baseline


NOTES
-----
- A report that shows more patients through CT than the scanner can physically
  process in the drill window means the tracking failed, not that the team
  succeeded. Measure against real limits.
- Run the same scenario again after fixing the plan. Improvement only shows up
  against a stable baseline.