MACSIM ®

MACSIM supplies you with sufficient input- and output data to be used as an instrument for testing, evaluating and developing your own organization and methodology for major incident response, and also the knowledge and skills of your staff. A recommendation is to first run a course according to a standardized course package as described above to set up the system and give your staff the opportunity to work with the system. After that, you can replace the data on resources, geographic conditions, organization and methodology used in the package with your own corresponding data and design your own scenario.

MACSIM can for this purpose supply you with standardized protocols for evaluation including:

• Alert- and response times

• Efficiency in the alert process

• Reporting, timing and quality

• Over-and under-triage on scene and in hospitals

• Efficiency of transport (waiting times for staffed ambulances/helicopter)

• Utilization of hospital resources

• Identification of critical limiting factors for hospital surge capacity

• Preventable deaths and complications related to trauma score

You get a numerical result on the outcome of the simulated response that can be improved by further training, modifications in organization and methodology and/or addition of specific resources. To get corresponding information using a "live" exercise would cost considerably more money and also more work, even if limited "live" tests can be required for specific purposes as test of material.

MACSIM has been used for one such full-scale test of the Utrecht hospitals, the Netherlands November 2011 with very successful results which still are under evaluation.

References:

• Professor Luke Leenen (l.p.h.leenen@umcutrecht.nl)

• Dr Mike Bemelman (m.bemelman@umcutrecht.nl)