Challenges for rescue and treatment of mass burns: the experience of rescue and treatment for casualties in August 2nd Kunshan factory aluminum dust explosion accident

The Kunshan factory aluminum dust explosion accident in August 2nd, 2014 caused the largest number of serious burn casualties in China in the recent 30 years. With the support of the whole country and the multidisciplinary cooperation, 185 severely burned patients were rescued and treated at 20 hospitals in Jiangsu province and Shanghai with satisfactory results. The rescue and treatment of mass burn is a complicated and systematic project on account of its suddenness, uncertainty, and non-repeatability. The treatment of this explosion accident was reviewed in this paper to explore the treatment model and experience of multidisciplinary cooperation. It is worthy to ponder and explore how to face challenges and strive to improve the treatment level of mass burns.