The myths of disaster education.

Sign-out somewhere in the United States in an emergency department (ED) today: ‘‘.so that’s the last of the acute rack. And, yeah, there are 17 boarders waiting for beds, the usual. ’’ In this issue of Annals, Auf der Heide thoroughly debunks numerous myths of disaster response and management. As many of us know firsthand, in a major disaster, including a terrorist attack, many patients may show up in our EDs with no warning, apparently randomly, and without field care. In response, our government, society, and we ourselves have undertaken strenuous efforts to ‘‘be prepared’’ for the next ‘‘big one,’’ usually described as a huge mass casualty event involving weapons of mass destruction such as nuclear, biological, or chemical agents. Millions of dollars have been spent to develop training ‘‘courses’’ for nurses, physicians, and emergency medical services (EMS) personnel. Unfortunately, with all of this effort and money spent, it is not clear that we have achieved an appropriate benefit in disaster readiness. I would like to review here what I call the 5 ‘‘myths of disaster education’’ and see how our nation’s response stacks up to them.