Michael Drosos
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Medical School in Athens, Global Health, Disasters and Medicine, Zografou, Greece

Part of the book: The Challenges of Disaster Planning, Management, and Resilience

Abstract

In a generally hostile field worldwide, full of mass casualty incidents (MCIs), Greece is no exception. This chapter is an effort to collect the deadliest MCIs in Greece since 1996 in order to not only identify them by kind and understand the differences between them but also to arrive to conclusions and guidelines on what must be followed in such incidents no matter what. Because of its geographical position and soil formation Greece has been prone to a variety of MCIs. Taking into consideration Greece’s strategical place and social particularities as well as the internal social and financial challenges it has faced, being the European country that received the majority of refugees among the EU during the last decade, mainly by sea, it is no surprise that many MCIs happened in its seas with thousands of people, including children, losing their lives in a desperate attempt to reach the mainland. Using information collected throughout the internet on the majority of Greek MCIs, the purpose is to understand the local level of crisis’ readiness and preparedness through the relative carriers and hopefully to increase the national obligation to cooperate, confront and succeed beyond those challenges. In order to be prepared, in relationship with the Civil Protection, all carriers and their personnel must frequently get educated, test their abilities in trials and further participate in cooperative trials. Through these procedures the suitable authorities should check the status of the basic fundamentals that must be present, such as: communication, evaluation, progression level and progression ways.

Keywords: mass, casualty, incidents, Greece, management, 1996

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