ABSTRACT
A medical specialism was created by finding an empirical link between anecdotal accounts of disasters. The average severity of injuries sustained is an important factor for the medical management team, since there is a major difference between having to cope with a large number of seriously injured casualties and having to treat a large number of people with only slight injuries. The chain along which the victim receives medical and nursing assistance between the initial site and the hospital is called the Medical Assistance Chain. The medical aspects of disaster management, also referred to as disaster medicine, is a relatively new medical specialty, the roots of which are to be found in war surgery and traumatology. The content in the main of disaster medicine is based on empiricism. During the last couple of years, a mathematical approach to some aspects has been added.
