Kabul airport suicide attack: report of a mass casualty

Excerpt

Mass casualty events (MCE) are rare in high-income countries and feasible to manage, as a vast emergency services network is usually available. On the contrary, resources in Afghanistan are scarce, and these events are frequent. EMERGENCY-NGO has been active since 1999 with three hospitals in Kabul, Lashkar Gah and Anabah, and a network of 39 first aid posts around the country, treating war victims without any discrimination and free of charge. Western media mostly underreport the frequent MCE caused by bombings, conflagrations or terrorist attacks. Nevertheless, despite being similar to many others, the terrorist attack at Kabul International Airport (26th August) was exceptionally covered. As the organization has always been on the frontline in responding to MCE in Afghanistan (Fig. 1), we will attempt to supplement the publicly available information by reporting on the medical response efforts.

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