Argentine Jewish Community Institution Bomb Explosion

Abstract

The total collapse of a multiple-story building immediately kills most of its occupants. In the present study, the few surviving victims were located at the lower floors. The majority of hospitalized victims were outside the building at the moment of the blast. Rapid overcrowding of the emergency department with minor and moderate injuries that do not require hospitalization should be anticipated by disaster management plans. Centralization of severely injured patients in critical areas seems appropriate, because this method keeps major cases from spreading through different wards.

Triage: Principles and Practice

“…The large numbers of noncritical casualties make the rapid identification of the severely injured very difficult, increasing the chance of delaying their urgently needed care and of their preventable death. In fact, published data from 12 major mass casualty terrorist bombings (14,(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32) (Table 2) confirm a direct relationship between the rate of overtriage and the critical mortality rate of survivors (Fig. 1).…”

Injury pattern of suicide bomb attacks in Pakistan

“…There were multiple dirty wounds containing various debris, splinters, and fragments. Wound debridement in the first 24 h and thereon remained the main bulk of all operations performed (44%) [23,24].…”

Medical Management of Disasters and Mass Casualties From Terrorist Bombings: How Can We Cope?

“…34 In 1994, a seven-story building in Buenos Aires, Argentina, which housed the Argentine Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA), was leveled by the detonation of an ammonium nitrate fuel-air explosive device with a blast force equivalent to 660 lb of TNT. 35 There were approximately 286 total casualties and 82 (29%) immediate deaths. Among the 204 survivors, 41 (20%) were hospitalized, 14 (7%) were critically injured, and 4 of these died, for an overall late mortality of 3.4% and a critical mortality rate of 29%.…”

“…In both Buenos Aires and Oklahoma City, mortality was highest on the upper floors of the collapsed building. 35,36 Building collapse is also maximized by placing the bomb completely within the building, as occurred in Beirut, Bologna, and Buenos Aires, rather than outside to result in partial collapse, as in Oklahoma City. Another determinant of mortality among victims of bombings is the availability of medical resources at the disaster scene.…”

“…34 In contrast, bombings in major urban areas with extensive and sophisticated prehospital systems and medical facilities, which allow rapid rescue and transport to definitive care, tend to have lower mortality rates. 12,23,28,35,36,38,42,43 Most critical body system injuries are found among those immediately killed after terrorist bombings. Although all fatalities suffered multiple injuries, head injuries tend to be most common in this group, as was shown in Beirut.…”