Medical Mass Casualty Lessons Learned from the Deadliest Human Smuggling Incident in U.S. History

This article describes a 2023 mass casualty incident (MCI) in which 53 people died while being smuggled in a tractor-trailer during an extreme heat wave. Triage lessons learned from this MCI included identifying and providing care to all triaged “red” patients, then conducting secondary triage in which an EMS physician identified any additional patients requiring care or determined whether they were deceased. The article also includes information on supporting first responders’ wellbeing during and after an MCI.