Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Disaster Victims”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 469 records · Page 26Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

[Organization of emergency health services in disasters].

Since 1982 the St. Radboud hospital, Nijmegen, has a contiguity plan for peace-time disasters which describes the way to deal with great numbers of patients of traffic-, environmental- or industrial-calamities. The function of the commander, the separate hospital services, the medical and nursing triage team and administrative services are clearly delineated. Also is indicated how to organise communication between hospital, municipality, police and fire-brigade. The plan also provides possibilities for information towards press and relatives of the victims.

Disaster Planning↗
PubMed1978

Simulation of injuries in disaster exercises.

It is essential that hospitals, doctors, nurses, ambulances, helicopters, police, fire services and all others involved in major accidents or disasters should have adequate training in the assessment, management and transport of casualties by the means of regular disaster exercises. These practices, whether small or large, are much more realistic if casualties are properly made up to simulate the injury that they are supposed to represent, and if the 'patients' can act the part. The illustrations in this article show how real the make-up can be and how seriously the doctors, nurses, ambulance officers, fire and police officers and others take these exercises which often have between 100-200 'victims'.

Disaster Planning↗
PubMed2005

Medical needs of tsunami disaster refugee camps.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: In response to the massive tsunami disaster in South Asia, two Korean medical relief teams provided emergency medical care in the southern coastal area of Sri Lanka. Their findings are reported here to provide a realistic picture of medical needs created by the tsunami disaster and to enable a better-prepared medical response to future disasters of this type. METHODS: All victims of the tsunami in the area of operation of the two medical relief teams were encouraged to receive medical care. Care provided to each victim was documented in individual medical records. All medical records were reviewed and classified by age, gender, and diagnosis. RESULTS: A total of 4,710 people were treated by the two Korean medical relief teams for 9 days of operation in southern Sri Lanka. Respiratory problems were common, but diarrhea was diagnosed in an average of only 4.3 patients per day. Minor skin trauma and wound infection in the extremities were frequent as long as 3 weeks after the disaster. The proportion of skin trauma in relation to total trauma decreased as days elapsed from the disaster. CONCLUSIONS: Because of the provision of adequate quantities of potable water, the likelihood of waterborne diarrhea was low. Acute respiratory problems and chronic problems were prevalent in tsunami refugee camps. Despite concerted international relief efforts, inadequate treatment of minor skin trauma and skin infections was evident.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2001

Tenerife revisited: the critical role of dentistry.

The authors record the contribution of dentistry to the identification of victims of one of the most significant disasters in the history of aviation-the March 1977 collision of two Boeing 747 jumbo jets in the Canary Islands, which resulted in 583 fatalities. Dental identification was the primary method of victim identification because a high percentage of the bodies were severely burned. Virtually all aspects of the U.S. identification efforts have been reported with the exception of the valuable role of dentistry. The dental team's organization, methodology, and significant contributions to forensic dentistry and a variety of remarkable problems that the team encountered are documented.

Accidents, Aviation↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The efficacy of integrating "smart simulated casualties" in hospital disaster drills.

INTRODUCTION: Full-scale disaster drills are complex, expensive, and may involve hundreds or thousands of people. However, even when carefully planned, they often fail to manifest the details of medical care given to the casualties during the drill. OBJECTIVE: To assess the feasibility of integrating physicians among the simulated casualties of a hospital disaster drill. METHODS: A total of 178 physicians graduating an Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) course participated in eight hospital disaster drills during 1994 as "Smart Victims." The participants were given cards with descriptions of their injury and detailed instructions on how to manipulate their medical condition according to the medical care provided in the hospital. They also were given coded questionnaires to fill out during the process of the drill. Conclusions were drawn from analysis of the questionnaires and from a roundtable discussion following each drill. RESULTS: The "smart casualties" made comments on the following topics: 1) triage (over-triage in 9%, and under-triage in 4%); 2) treatment sites; 3) medical equipment usage (i.e., shortage of ventilators and splinting devices); 4) medical knowledge and care rendered by the hospital staff; 5) evacuation and escorting of the wounded; 6) management of patients with post-traumatic stress disorder; and 7) medical documentation. Their comments contributed valuable information on the quality of medical care and organization, and identified obstacles that otherwise would have been overlooked. The "smart casualties" were very cooperative and indicated that their participation in the drill contributed to their understanding of disaster situations in hospitals. CONCLUSION: Integrating physicians among the simulated casualties in a hospital disaster drill may contribute to achieving the objectives of hospital disaster drills and add to disaster management education of the simulated casualty physicians.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Natural hazards: causes and effects. Lesson 7-Drought.

Drought has long been recognized as one of the most insidious causes of human misery. Today, it is the natural disaster that annually claims the most victims. Its ability to cause widespread misery is estimated to be increasing. While generally associated with semiarid climates, drought may occur in areas that normally enjoy adequate rainfall and moisture. In the broadest sense, any lack of water for the normal needs of agriculture, livestock, industry, or human population may be termed as a drought. The cause may be lack of supply, contamination of supply, inadequate storage or conveyance facilities, or abnormal demand. Drought is a condition of climatic dryness severe enough to reduce soil moisture and water below the minimums necessary for sustaining plant, animal, and human life. Drought usually is accompanied by hot, dry winds and may be followed by damaging floods. More socially relevant than technically correct is the definition used by Ari Toubo Eibrahim, the minister of agriculture in Niger, who has said that a drought is "Not as much water as the people need."

Disaster Planning↗
PubMed1989

[The airplane accident in Torghatten on May 6, 1988].

On May 6th, 1988, a Dash 7 airplane crashed into the mountain of Torghatten, near Brønnøy-sund in northern Norway. All 33 passengers and the three crew members were killed. The National Identification Commission, including a forensic dentist, was at the disaster site twelve hours later. A dentist and a forensic pathologist worked with the police at the site until all the victims had been found. Three other dentists were responsible for collecting antemortem material and for the postmortem examination of all victims. 32 of the victims, or 89%, could be identified by dental means alone; a higher percentage than ever before reported. The final meeting of the Identification Commission took place five days after the disaster. All the victims were identified on the basis of technical, medical, and dental evidence, and the report signed by each of the three specialist groups. The quality of the dental records was evaluated with respect to requirements set up by the Ministry of Social Affairs in 1983. Dental records had improved since the "Alexander Kielland" disaster in 1980. However, only five of the missing persons had full mouth intraoral radiography, only nine records met the requirements for general information about the patient (birth date and identification number, home and business address, etc), only three had information about earlier diseases, and none had recorded previous dental restorations. Diagnoses were given only for nine persons. The records showed that 21 of the victims had not received any prophylactic treatment.

Dental Records↗
PubMedDate not supplied

What ails the Bhopal disaster investigations? (And is there a cure?).

A review of the health effects of the 1984 disaster in Bhopal, India, shows continuing morbidity of a multi-systemic nature in the exposed population. Scientific questions about epidemiologic issues are discussed with a view to understanding appropriate methods of investigation into the disaster. Other major chemical incidents were reviewed to note some of the common problems associated with public health investigations of disasters, which have included the lack of accident-related and toxicologic information, expertise, and funds. The complexity of the Bhopal crisis was underscored by the severe mortality and morbidity it entailed as well as its occurrence in a developing nation that had little experience in dealing with chemical disasters. Lessons learned from the disaster are discussed, with recommendations for disaster preparedness, long-term monitoring, rehabilitation, and treatment of the gas victims.

Accidents, Occupational↗
PubMed2001

Pharmacogenetic profile of xenobiotic enzyme metabolism in survivors of the Spanish toxic oil syndrome.

In 1981, the Spanish toxic oil syndrome (TOS) affected more than 20,000 people, and over 300 deaths were registered. Assessment of genetic polymorphisms on xenobiotic metabolism would indicate the potential metabolic capacity of the victims at the time of the disaster. Thus, impaired metabolic pathways may have contributed to the clearance of the toxicant(s) leading to a low detoxification or accumulation of toxic metabolites contributing to the disease. We conducted a matched case-control study using 72 cases (54 females, 18 males) registered in the Official Census of Affected Patients maintained by the Spanish government. Controls were nonaffected siblings (n =72) living in the same household in 1981 and nonaffected nonrelatives (n = 70) living in the neighborhood at that time, with no ties to TOS. Genotype analyses were performed to assess the metabolic capacity of phase I [cytochrome P450 1A1 (CYP1A1), CYP2D6] and phase II [arylamine N-acetyltransferase-2 (NAT2), GSTM1 (glutathione S-transferase M1) and GSTT1] enzyme polymorphisms. The degree of association of the five metabolic pathways was estimated by calculating their odds ratios (ORs) using conditional logistic regression analysis. In the final model, cases compared with siblings (72 pairs) showed no differences either in CYP2D6 or CYP1A1 polymorphisms, or in conjugation enzyme polymorphisms, whereas cases compared with the unrelated controls (70 pairs) showed an increase in NAT2 defective alleles [OR = 6.96, 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.46-33.20] adjusted by age and sex. Glutathione transferase genetic polymorphisms (GSTM1, GSTT1) showed no association with cases compared with their siblings or unrelated controls. These findings suggest a possible role of impaired acetylation mediating susceptibility in TOS.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Experiences of hurricane Katrina evacuees in Houston shelters: implications for future planning.

OBJECTIVES: To shed light on how the public health community can promote the recovery of Hurricane Katrina victims and protect people in future disasters, we examined the experiences of evacuees housed in Houston area shelters 2 weeks after the hurricane. METHODS: A survey was conducted September 10 through 12, 2005, with 680 randomly selected respondents who were evacuated to Houston from the Gulf Coast as a result of Hurricane Katrina. Interviews were conducted in Red Cross shelters in the greater Houston area. RESULTS: Many evacuees suffered physical and emotional stress during the storm and its aftermath, including going without adequate food and water. In comparison with New Orleans and Louisiana residents overall, disproportionate numbers of this group were African American, had low incomes, and had no health insurance coverage. Many had chronic health conditions and relied heavily on the New Orleans public hospital system, which was destroyed in the storm. CONCLUSIONS: Our results highlight the need for better plans for emergency communication and evacuation of low-income and disabled citizens in future disasters and shed light on choices facing policymakers in planning for the long-term health care needs of vulnerable populations.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Transfer regulations and cost-effectiveness analysis.

Recent scholarship on regulatory oversight has focused on cost-benefit analysis of prescriptive regulations--regulations that restrict behavior such as pollution--and their use to cure market failures, and has overlooked the vast number of transfer regulations. Transfer regulations are regulations that channel funds to beneficiaries. These regulations are authorized by statutes that establish entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security, pay one-time distributions to victims of misfortunes such as natural disasters and the 9/11 terrorist attack, and fund pork barrel spending. Cost-benefit analysis cannot be used to evaluate transfer regulations because all transfer regulations fail cost-benefit analysis; cost-effectiveness analysis, however, can be used to evaluate transfer regulations. Although executive orders appear to require agencies to use cost-effectiveness analysis to evaluate transfer regulations that have a large economic impact, the agencies' record is dismal. Most agencies fail to perform cost-effectiveness analysis, and other agencies perform cost-effectiveness analysis incorrectly. More vigorous Office of Management and Budget and, possibly, judicial review could improve the quality of distributive regulations.

Budgets↗