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 631 records · Page 35Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Preparing for burn disasters: evaluation of a continuing education training course for pre-hospital and hospital professionals in Kansas.

"Preparing for Burn Disasters: A Training Course for Pre-Hospital and Hospital Professionals in Kansas," a continuing education program designed to provide licensed health care practitioners a training opportunity for multiple burn victim incidents, emphasized the challenges that the community-wide multidisciplinary team faces when responding to burn disasters. A pre-post survey design was used to assess changes in participants' knowledge and self-rated ability, confidence, and competence to perform in a burn disaster before and after training. Participants (N = 383) were predominantly female (71.1%), 40 years or older (57.7%), nurses (52.2%), were employed in a pre-hospital care setting (38%), and had worked in healthcare for 10 years or fewer (53.6%). The percentage of correct responses pre- vs post-test increased between 30% and 65% on two-thirds of the knowledge items. On the basis of paired-samples t-test analysis, statistically significant increases in participants' overall self-ratings of ability and confidence in burn management were observed in every content area. Most participants (64%) felt competent or highly competent to manage multiple burn casualties after the training program, and most participants (58%) indicated that they intended to incorporate the newly acquired knowledge into their daily practice within 2 weeks. Evaluation results demonstrate that a successful program was designed and implemented. The curriculum and teaching methods achieved desired goals for improved knowledge, which appear to have been translated to enhanced abilities, confidence and competence in burn assessment and treatment modalities.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Correlates of compassion fatigue and burnout in chaplains and other clergy who responded to the September 11th attacks in New York City.

Participants at a June 2002 conference about the September 11th attacks were tested for compassion fatigue, compassion satisfaction, and burnout. The sample consisted of 343 clergy, including 97 chaplains. A total of 149 (43.4%) of the participants had responded as disaster-relief workers following the September 11th attacks. The number of hours clergy worked with trauma victims each week was directly related to compassion fatigue among responders and non-responders. Compassion fatigue also was positively related to the number of days that responders worked at Ground Zero, while disaster-relief work with the American Red Cross reduced compassion fatigue and burnout. Clinical Pastoral Education tended to decrease compassion fatigue and burnout and increase compassion satisfaction in both responders and non-responders. Burnout was inversely related to age in both groups.

Adult↗
PubMed1977

Psychosocial first aid for refugees (an essay in social psychiatry).

Post-war refugee resettlement schemes offer an opportunity for the study of contemporary social phenomena of compulsory mass migration. The process, set in motion by man-made disasters of war, oppression and persecution, deeply affects not only the victims but also the social institutions as they mobilize resources to accommodate the stateless and homeless new populations. The traditional focus on 'culture-change' is inadequate for the development of principles of aid to the refugees. In this paper, an operational definition of the structure and natural history of the social situation of resettlement is outlined, with reference to the working hypotheses of (1) the Social Displacement Syndrome and (2) the Psychosocial First Aid for Refugees Project. This has been derived from clinical and field studies of four successive refugee groups in Canada over the past 27 years, with specific focus on the social dynamics of the situation from immediately upon resettlement to one year after. In this early phase, the coexistence of personal and social disequilibrium in the refugees and among those who represent the institutions responsible for their management creates specific conditions, of which some enhance the disposition for recovery or 'repair' and some might reinforce the disposition for lasting 'social breakdown'. Some generalizations concerning practical and theoretical work in social psychiatry are made.

Acculturation↗
PubMed1997

Disaster relief work: nurses and others in bushfire territory.

This paper describes one aspect of a study into the experiences in long-term healing of a community following the 1983 Ash Wednesday bushfire. Forty participants were interviewed, of whom 26 were residents and 14 disaster relief workers. The paper concentrates on the experiences of the latter, describing how they came to understand the bushfire affected the community and how they managed disaster work. For novices it was a profoundly difficult experience, for which they received little help and had to manage with whatever skill they drew on in their 'normal' working lives, mixed with a good deal of intuition. The paper suggests that health workers in vulnerable areas require preparation for a likely disaster; that 'outsiders' need to deal through existing community groups and individuals to gain access to those in need of their skills, and that they also require preparation for helping 'insiders' who are themselves victims of the catastrophe.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1980

Mass identification: a multidisciplinary operation. The Dutch experience.

The organization of the Disaster Unit of the National Police Force of the Netherlands is described. Several aspects of its operation are discussed, including the recovery operation, technical identification, tactical identification, and finally the details of the Dutch operation in the disaster at Tenerife. The Tenerife disaster operation included the work at the crash site and temporary morgue setup, the method of technical identification, and the supplementary investigations upon return to the Netherlands. The success of this difficult task, shown by positive identification of 82% of the bodies of the victims, is truly remarkable.

Accidents, Aviation↗
PubMed2003

Investigation of Italy's deadliest building collapse: forensic aspects of a mass disaster.

We describe the investigation of the 1999 collapse of an apartment building in Foggia, Italy. Sixty-one victims were recovered in the rubble of the building, and five people were unaccounted for. All the bodies were well preserved except for two who had been burned. The majority of the victims were identified visually or by comparing body features, clothing, or personal effects with information collected from relatives or friends. Positive identifications of the two victims who were burned were obtained by dental comparison and DNA analysis. Approximately half of the victims (51.6%) sustained fatal injuires, while the remainder died from asphyxia. The injuries were characterized using the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) and the New Injury Severity Score (NISS) systems. Injury severity associated with the location of victims inside the apartment may provide useful information for those involved in building design and/or search and rescue operations. Engineers determined that the collapse was the result of the use of inappropriate foundation material.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

The Kobe earthquake: the system response. A disaster report from Japan.

The Great Hanshin earthquake on 17 January 1995 caused a complete disruption of both the communications and transportation systems which, as a result, severely hampered a prompt and timely system response. The survival rate of the extricated victims was 80.4% on the first day, and 1892 victims were extricated with an overall survival rate of 40%. Very few patients were transported to hospitals outside the disaster area on the first day of the disaster. The power supply was quickly reestablished, however, it took a long time for the water supply to return to normal and this factor played a major role in limiting the clinical activities of the damaged hospitals. Crush syndrome was the most prominent medical syndrome necessitating critical care after the Kobe earthquake. The Japanese Association for Acute Medicine has since made eight new proposals for emergency medicine during mass-disasters that will hopefully improve the survival of patients in any future disasters.

Communication↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A hospital as victim and responder: the Sepulveda VA Medical Center and the Northridge earthquake.

Many hospital emergency plans focus on the hospital as a disaster responder, with a fully operational medical facility, able to receive and treat mass casualties from a clearly defined accident scene. However, hospitals need to prepare a response for extreme casualty events such as earthquakes, tornadoes, or hurricanes. This article describes the planning, mitigation, response, and recovery of a major medical--surgical center thrust into a victim responder role following the devastating Northridge earthquake. The subsequent evacuation and care of patients, treatment of casualties, incident command, prior education and training, and recovery issues are addressed.

California↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Prehospital care of tsunami victims in Thailand: description and analysis.

INTRODUCTION: On 26 December 2004 at 09:00 h, an earthquake of 9.0 magnitude (Richter scale) struck the area off of the western coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia, triggering a Tsunami. As of 25 January 2005, 5,388 fatalities were confirmed, 3,120 people were reported missing, and 8,457 people were wounded in Thailand alone. Little information is available in the medical literature regarding the response and restructuring of the prehospital healthcare system in dealing with major natural disasters. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to analyze the prehospital medical response to the Tsunami in Thailand, and to identify possible ways of improving future preparedness and response. METHODS: The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Home Front Command Medical Department sent a research delegation to study the response of the Thai medical system to the 2004 earthquake and Tsunami disaster. The delegation met with Thai healthcare and military personnel, who provided medical care for and evacuated the Tsunami victims. The research instruments included questionnaires (open and closed questions), interviews, and a review of debriefing session reports held in the days following the Tsunami. RESULTS: Beginning the day after the event, primary health care in the affected provinces was expanded and extended. This included: (1) strengthening existing primary care facilities with personnel and equipment; (2) enhancing communication and transportation capabilities; (3) erecting healthcare facilities in newly constructed evacuation centers; (4) deploying mobile, medical teams to make house calls to flood refugees in affected areas; and (5) deploying ambulance crews to the affected areas to search for survivors and provide primary care triage and transportation. CONCLUSION: The restructuring of the prehospital healthcare system was crucial for optimal management of the healthcare needs of Tsunami victims and for the reduction of the patient loads on secondary medical facilities. The disaster plan of a national healthcare system should include special consideration for the restructuring and reinforcement prehospital system.

Disasters↗
PubMed2003

The role of anaesthetists in the Darwin response to the Bali bombing.

The bombing of nightclubs in Bali on the night of October 12, 2002 was one of the worst peacetime disasters affecting Australians. This paper examines the unique role of anaesthetists in helping manage the victims, with the main emphasis on events in Darwin. Anaesthetists were involved in the multiple stages of patient care; from the hospital in Bali, evacuation to Darwin, resuscitation and onward evacuation to burns units around Australia as well as definitive surgical management. We discuss the role of anaesthetists in disaster management.

Anesthesiology↗
PubMed2001

Intervention of the Renal Disaster Relief Task Force in the 1999 Marmara, Turkey earthquake.

BACKGROUND: Major earthquakes are followed by a substantial number of crush syndromes and pigment-induced acute renal failures (ARFs). The natural evolution of this problem rapidly leads to death. Today's possibilities of dialysis therapy enable saving numerous lives that otherwise would be lost. Currently, the primary problem is organizational, if huge catastrophes occur and complex therapeutic options need to be offered to a large number of victims. METHODS: Following the 1988 Spitak earthquake in Armenia, the International Society of Nephrology (ISN) established the Renal Disaster Relief Task Force (RDRTF) in order to anticipate organizational problems related to renal care in the aftermath of large natural and human-made catastrophes. The proposed concept was one of a dialysis advance team, which would assess the needs and possibilities of dialysis treatment, to be followed by supportive manpower and supplies. This article describes the organizational aspects of a rescue action that was undertaken following the Marmara earthquake, which occurred on August 17th, 1999, in northwestern Turkey. In conjunction with Médecins Sans Frontières, a team landed at Istanbul Airport less than 22 hours after the disaster, and logistic and material support as well as manpower were provided over a period of approximately one month. Specific attention was paid to the choice of the renal replacement therapy, the transport of victims and materials, the implementation of preventive rehydration, and the problem of chronic renal failure patients dialyzed in the damaged area. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrate how previously anticipated international support may offer moral, financial, as well as logistical help to local nephrological communities confronted with serious disasters.

Acute Kidney Injury↗
PubMed2002

Lessons learned from the Marmara disaster: Time period under the rubble.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of the time period under the rubble on morbidity and mortality of the crush-syndrome patients after the catastrophic Marmara earthquake that struck northwestern Turkey in August 1999. DESIGN: Observational study. SETTING: Consecutive admissions to emergency and intensive care units of 35 reference hospitals that treated the renal victims. METHODS: Analysis of questionnaires obtained from these hospitals. PATIENTS: A total of 539 of 639 crush-syndrome patients whose time under the rubble was identified in the questionnaires. RESULTS: Mean time under the rubble was 11.7 +/- 14.3 hrs (median, 8 hrs; interquartile range, 6 hrs; range, 0.5-135 hrs). The highest number of patients was entrapped within the 5-8 hrs time stratum, and by the end of 48 hrs, 97% of the victims had been rescued. Nondialyzed victims spent a longer duration under the rubble than dialyzed ones (15.9 +/- 23.1 hrs [median, 7 hrs; interquartile range, 8.5 hrs] vs. 10.3 +/- 9.5 hrs [median, 8 hrs; interquartile range, 6 hrs), p <.001)]. Likewise, in the strata of longer time under the rubble, the percentage of survivors was higher (p =.07). Time under the rubble correlated positively with the number of amputated extremities (p <.001) and admission platelet count (p <.001), and it correlated negatively with admission serum albumin (p <.001). The victims entrapped for >50 hrs (n = 6) were characterized by lower figures of admission blood urea nitrogen (p =.04), serum creatinine (p =.003), hemodialysis sessions, and duration of hemodialysis support (p =.005, for both analyses) compared with victims whose time under the rubble was shorter. CONCLUSION: Rescue efforts should continue at least for 5 days after the disaster. Time under the rubble is not an adverse prognostic indicator of survival or renal dysfunction for the patients of crush syndrome, probably because only the victims with mild or moderate injuries can survive under the rubble for longer durations.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

The role of telemedicine in disaster medicine.

Telecommunications from telephone and radio to two-way audio, video, facsimile (fax), and digital imaging via satellite transmission have been used in responses to disasters. Current and rapidly emerging communications technology offers the prospect of enormously expanded and more efficient application in predisaster, acute, and postdisaster rehabilitation activities. A survey of present and potential roles for telemedicine in disaster medicine will be presented with particular focus on initial on-going medical needs assessment, prevention programs, and emergency assistance for provision of emergency care of victims, care for other survivors, and public health and sanitation services. Attention will also focus on telemedicine in education and training, disaster response exercises, development of comprehensive plans, and research. Finally, the essential relationship between the routine utilization of telemedicine in predisaster health care and effective employment in disaster situations will be discussed.

Disaster Planning↗
PubMed1997

Disasters, the media and social structures: a typology of credibility hierarchy persistence based on a newspaper coverage of the Love Canal and six other disasters.

The starting-point of this paper is the assumption that credibility and the right to be heard are differentially distributed in any social system and therefore a 'hierarchy of credibility' exists. To test this, the media coverage of the Love Canal, New York, hazardous waste landfill disaster and six other disasters was examined to determine if this hierarchy exists in all cases. A hierarchy of credibility emphasising the views of established news sources with routine and habitual access to the media was demonstrated in the majority of events examined However, the Love Canal disaster was one of two where this hierarchy was disrupted due to a number of factors. These included the contentious or political nature of the event, its duration, the extent of competition of credibility and coverage among news sources, the extent of information shortage, the type of news medium, the degree of sympathetic and representational salience of victims and the extent to which they organized and achieved status as 'newsmakers'. Building on disaster research, a model of the operation of the credibility hierarchy in coverage of disasters is presented and discussed.

Attitude to Health↗
PubMed1979

An emergency medical system approach to disaster planning.

The increasing prevalence of terrorist attacks and natural disasters has mandated that more emphasis be placed on emergency disaster planning. The report focuses on the 1976 Courthouse bombing in Boston, which generated 20 casualties. Ambulance response by Boston's Emergency Medical Service system was made in 2.5 minutes and all victims were transported from the scene within 20 minutes. Successful management of this incident employed several important principles of disaster planning. These include the initial medical response, staging at the scene, and hospital notification. Additionally, the concept of triage as an integral part of disaster planning is explained with examples of the on-site medical stabilization and treatment of casualties. The importance of these concepts in practice and the necessity of close coordination of ambulance response and the responses of other emergency agencies, i.e., Police and Fire, were clearly demonstrated in the disaster which resulted from the Courthouse bombing.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Posttraumatic stress disorder as a result of mass trauma.

There is a large body of literature on the psychological consequences of trauma experienced by individuals, but there are few studies of the acute and long-term effects of mass trauma on victimized communities. Acute stress reactions are expected, and overall resilience in the aftermath of major disasters is the rule rather than the exception. However, the available literature on mass trauma suggests that certain factors may provide clues to identifying persons at greater risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The severity of the trauma and the accessibility of support systems may affect long-term outcome. In industrialized countries, mass violence caused by malicious human intent may be a more virulent precursor to PTSD than other types of mass trauma, such as technological or natural disasters. School-aged children, women, persons with existing psychiatric illness, those who experienced significant losses or threat to life, those who have insufficient psychological and social support systems, and persons who exhibit symptoms of functional impairment may be at greater risk for PTSD. The findings of a population study of 2 traumatized communities are discussed. Early intervention in communities suffering mass trauma should consist of general support and bolstering of the recovery environment rather than psychological treatment; some forms of early psychological interventions may worsen outcome. There is a great unmet need for treatment and intervention guidelines for victims of mass trauma, and well-designed studies are warranted.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Identification of two fire victims by comparative nuclear DNA typing of skeletal remains and stored umbilical tissues.

We describe here our collaborative efforts in identifying 2 fatalities of a fire disaster by using a variety of identification techniques. Postmortem findings in both cases were reinforced using Short Tandem Repeat (STR) DNA technology to establish with a high degree of certainty the identities of 2 child victims. STR markers used in the present study include HUMAMEL, HUMCSFIPO, HUMTHO1, HUMvWA, HUMFES/FPS, HUMF13A01, HUMFOLP23, D8S3O6, HUMFGA, and HUMTPOX. Unambiguous identification was made possible through matching DNA profiles generated from skeletal remains with those from umbilical tissues. These tissues were kept by their mothers in accordance with a Philippine tradition and were submitted for DNA analysis. Of the DNA profiles generated from exhumed bone samples of 21 child victims, comparison with the genetic profiles of children A and B obtained from umbilical tissues showed consistent DNA matches with remains 1756 and 1758, respectively.

Bone and Bones↗
PubMed1993

Lessons from the Musgrave Park Hospital bombing.

In November 1991 the Military Wing of Musgrave Park Hospital, Belfast, was the target of a terrorist bomb. Nine of the small military staff were killed or injured. The initial response was coordinated by doctors. The protocol for controlling the scene of a bomb is discussed, together with the overall management of the incident; the problems experienced when a hospital's treatment facility is severely disrupted are highlighted. Lessons for major incident planning and execution are reiterated. Blast injury and the immediate care of blast victims are reviewed.

Blast Injuries↗