Special report. Mobile, Alabama, and New York City hospitals: meeting the new challenges of recurring disasters

Unexpected disasters, natural and manmade, continue to occur and pose challenging situations for hospitals called on to treat casualties. Hospitals in Mobile, AL, which were tested by the Amtrak crash two years ago, faced another disaster in March when a fog caused numerous multi-vehicle collisions. Downtown New York City hospitals, which handled the over a thousand persons injured in the World Trade Center bombing in February 1993, faced another bombing emergency in December 1994 when a bomb exploded in a crowded subway train. How hospitals reacted to the new emergencies and the lessons they learned from the prior incidents are the subject of this report.