Preparing to receive patients
Mission
The team is on station; the mission is to be ready when the first casualty arrives. This phase covers physical setup, equipment checks, blood and oxygen readiness, communications checks, contingency planning (MASCAL, CBRNE), and team rehearsal. The output is a clear, communicable readiness state — “team open” — declared to Command and to the broader trauma system.
Personnel & Task Organization
Battle drill assignments confirmed and exercised. Each role’s primary, secondary, and tertiary tasks understood. Back-up assignments — who covers if the surgeon is busy, who covers if the anesthesia provider is busy, who covers airway if the corpsman is doing chest tubes — explicit, not implicit.
Site security personnel briefed on the casualty arrival corridor and on the team’s posture during a live event.
Equipment & Logistics
- All equipment positioned and powered. Backup power tested. Failure modes understood.
- Blood: storage online and at temperature; daily inventory; Walking Blood Bank donor roster confirmed and on-call.
- Airway and ventilation: every position checked; alternate paths (cricothyrotomy kits at hand) verified.
- Ultrasound: powered, oriented, scanned through the standard exam library.
- Oxygen: source identified, sustainment line verified, alternate source identified.
- Comms: internal (team), external (command, MEDEVAC), and alternate (contingency) all checked at the start of every operational period.
- Pharmacy: inventory; expiration scan; controlled substance count.
Doctrinal References
- MCRP 4-11.1G
- ARSC Joint Training Standard, “Prepare to Receive”
- JTS CPG: Walking Blood Bank
- JTS CPG: Pre-Hospital Blood Transfusion (30 Oct 2020)
- JTS CPG: Triage of Casualties
Clinical Practice Guidelines
CPG quick references should be physically present at the team site, not “available on the network.” MASCAL and CBRNE annexes printed and posted. Pediatric and partner-nation MEDROE references where relevant.
Decision Points
| Decision | Trigger | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Declare team open | All readiness checks pass | Notify Command; notify upstream and downstream nodes |
| Declare team partially open | Specific capability degraded | Notify; specify what is and is not available |
| Declare team closed | Critical capability lost (blood, surgical capability, key personnel) | Notify; route casualties elsewhere; recover |
| MASCAL pre-stage | MASCAL trigger met | Activate MASCAL plan; recall augmentation; pre-stage triage |
| CBRNE pre-stage | CBRNE indication | Don PPE; activate decontamination plan; isolate clean zones |
Linked ELOs
| TLO | ELO | Primary or Secondary |
|---|---|---|
| Prepare to Receive | PR-1 (structured team feedback) | Primary |
| Prepare to Receive | PR-2 (patient flow plan) | Primary |
| Prepare to Receive | PR-9 (communication plan) | Primary |
| Prepare to Receive | PR-11 (MASCAL plan) | Primary |
| Prepare to Receive | PR-12 (CBRNE plan) | Primary |
| Prepare to Receive | PR-13 (contingency plan) | Primary |
| Prepare to Receive | PR-14 (equipment setup) | Primary |
| Prepare to Receive | PR-15 (surgical rehearsal) | Primary |
| Clinical Ops | CO-2 (security posture) | Secondary |
| Clinical Ops | CO-7 (equipment familiarization) | Secondary |
Forms & Documentation
- Equipment setup checklist.
- Daily readiness sheet.
- Rehearsal AAR template.
- MASCAL activation card.
- CBRNE activation card.
Reference Imagery
Last reviewed: • OPSEC reviewed: