Since its inception about 66 years ago, Pakistan has experienced a variety of both natural and man-made disasters like earthquakes in 2005 and 2015 and widespread flooding in 2010. Pakistan has also experienced a range of politically motivated violence, bombings in urban areas, as well as mass shootings. Such events generate a large number of casualties. To minimize the loss of life, well-coordinated prehospital and in-hospital response to disasters is required.

To identify all the existing peer-reviewed medical literature on prehospital and in-hospital disaster preparedness and management in Pakistan.

The search was conducted using PubMed and Hollis plus search engines in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines. The articles selected included articles on both natural and man-made disasters, and their subsequent prehospital and in hospital management. The following search terms and keywords were used while searching PubMed: mass casualty incident preparedness and management Karachi, mass casualty incident preparedness, disaster preparedness Karachi, and disaster management Karachi. To search Hollis plus, we used the terms: mass casualty incident preparedness and management Pakistan, mass casualty incident Pakistan, mass casualty incident preparedness and management Karachi, and disaster preparedness Karachi. We selected only peer-reviewed articles for a literature search and review.

The reviewed articles show a lack of data regarding disaster management in Pakistan. Almost all the articles unanimously state the scarcity of planned prehospital and in-hospital management related to both man-made as well as natural disasters. There is a need for planned and coordinated efforts for disaster management in Pakistan.