Some factors specific to the event itself clearly helped save lives, and these have been much examined: Because the attack took place at a mass event, emergency personnel were close at hand at the moment of the attack; Boston also has a large number of medical centers, with skilled personnel and well-developed plans and procedures in place. But there are other aspects of the event that are also worth studying, including the performance of law enforcement and government officials; the way that communications technologies operated and either informed, or misinformed, the public; and other facets of the event relating to the hunt for the perpetrators of the bombings. - See more at: http://journalistsresource.org/studies/government/criminal-justice/boston-marathon-bombings-research-lessons#sthash.pVkeAinK.dpuf