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R ecent events, domestically and globally, have highlighted the numerous complex challenges that disasters and mass casualty incidents (MCIs) impose on hospitals. Mass casualty events result from natural phenomena (eg, hurricanes, tornadoes, and wildfires), accidents (eg, plane crashes, building collapses, and toxic waste spills), or man-made crises (eg, terrorism). 1-4 These events feature the potential to cause an acute surge of patients, which can overwhelm available hospital resources and personnel. Mass effect incidents are sustained crises, which often occur due to loss of infrastructure, epidemic infectious diseases, or need for hospital evacuations, and can completely overtax local and regional resources, thus requiring federal and state coordination. 5 Hospital disaster response plans have traditionally centered on responses by the emergency department (ED) and associated surgical services to mass trauma-type events, without commensurate involvement of other hospital departments in either incident management operations or the planning process for mass effect incidents. 6,7 In particular, the role of hospitalists in the leadership structure of various hospital disaster command structures remains undefined. 8 However, recent disasters suggest that hospitalist involvement will highly benefit hospital emergency preparedness. 9 Hospitalists possess specialized expertise in patient triage and disposition; medical comanagement with surgical services; coordination of complex

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