The aim of this systematic review was to collect evidence and recommendations for the applicability of the concept of evidence-based policy making (EBPM) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and to discuss the implementation of this concept from a medical science perspective.

This study was performed according to the guidelines, checklist, and flow diagram of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020. An electronic literature search was conducted on September 20, 2022 using PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and CINAHL databases with the following search terms: “evidence based policy making” and “infectious disease.” Study eligibility assessment was performed based on the flow diagram of PRISMA 2020, and risk of bias assessment was performed using The Critical Appraisal Skills Program.

Eleven eligible articles were included in this review and divided into three groups as follows: early, middle, and late stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Basics of COVID-19 control were suggested in the early stage. The articles published in the middle stage discussed the importance of the collection and analysis of evidence of COVID-19 from around the world for the establishment of EBPM in the COVID-19 pandemic. The articles published in the late stage discussed the collection of large amounts of high-quality data and the development of methods to analyze them, as well as emerging issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study revealed that the concept of EBPM applicable to emerging infectious disease pandemics changed between the early, middle, and late stages of the pandemic. The concept of EBPM will play an important role in medicine in the future.

On 11 June 2009, an Influenza A (H1N1) pandemic was declared by the World Health Organization (WHO). The Major Medical Incident Regional Command and Control Protocol in the County Council of Östergötland, Sweden was activated. After vaccinations were competed, it was decided that the operation should be evaluated in a retrospective study. This study aims to increase knowledge regarding regional management of a pandemic flu.

All protocols from regional command meetings were studied together with central data regarding, logistics, vaccination site reports, incident reports, and all written correspondence between involved departments. Information from results of a questionnaire that was distributed to all vaccination site managers were summarized and studied. In addition, an interview was performed with the chief of medical operations.

Out of the approximately 426,000 inhabitants of the county, a total of 224,780 (53%) were vaccinated during a five and a half month period. The mean pace was 1,246 vaccinated per day (range 0–9643). Regional command had 41 recorded meetings resulting in a collected number of about 740 working hours. Three hundred sixty-six employees were involved in the vaccination, working 38,741 hours. Twenty-eight safety and 52 security incidents were reported. Uncertainty about vaccine delivery and keeping the public's interest were reported to be of concern for the management.

Even with the large scale of the operation, there were only a few security and safety issues. Although the goal of vaccinating 75–80% of the inhabitants was not reached, it could be assumed that the pandemic was dampened. Given the public's high initial interest, it could be considered that vaccination should not start until a large number of doses have been delivered.

The medical incident command structure and protocol successfully can be adapted to a mass vaccination event. Information from the Östergötland County Council operation yielded significant experience for future mass vaccinations.

Many colleges and universities appear to exist in relative isolation from community-based emergency medical services (EMS) systems. In response, some have developed their own EMS systems.

To determine the extent of this phenomenon and to delineate the characteristics of these systems.

Questionnaires were mailed to 1,503 colleges/universities in the United States and Canada. The questionnaire asked whether the institution had an EMS system and included 19 questions about the characteristics of the system.

A total of 919 (61 %) responses were received. Of the institutions responding, 234 (25%) had an EMS system and 31 (3.4%) were considering starting a system. Characteristics of the systems were as follows: 1) Types of patients—the two most common call types were medical and trauma/surgical; 134 (57%) reported one-fourth of calls to be medical and 91 (39%) reported one-fourth of calls to be trauma/surgical. 2) Type of service—133 (57%) services transport patients; 195 (83%) respond only to the campus or other university property; the remainder also respond to the community; and 135 (58%) function all year. 3) Dispatch—178 (76%) are dispatched by the campus police, although most services are dispatched by several sources; 46 (20%) use 9-1-1. 4) Personnel—two systems (0.85%) exclusively employ paramedic; 141 systems (60%) have at least one emergency medical technician; the remainder use emergency care attendants and first-aid providers; 118 (50%) have medical directors, of these 76 (64 %) are student health physicians and 21 (18%) are community physicians. 5) Demographic Information—The majority of the campus-based EMS systems exist on small campuses in urban areas.

A significant number of colleges/universities have EMS systems and one-half transport patients. However, the level of training of the personnel and medical direction may be below the standard for the EMS systems in the communities in which these campus-based systems exist.

To examine the effects of age, race, gender, and insurance status on utilization and times-to-transport (TTT) for interhospital air medical transfers from rural hospitals to tertiary care centers.

A retrospective review of interhospital transport records. The TTT was examined as a function of age, gender, race, and insurance status using the Student's t-test for unpaired samples. The Exact Binomial Test (alpha error at 0.05) was used to compare the observed versus expected transport rates for non-whites.

A total of 268 patient transfers from hospitals within a two-county region in central Pennsylvania to tertiary care centers was analyzed. All records with sufficient demographic, TTT, or insurance data were included. Absence of data was the only exclusion.

The TTT (mean ± SD) was longer (2666 ± 3940 minutes (min.) versus 619 ± 909 min., respectively) for adult than pediatric patients (p <O1), and (2588 ± 4041 min. versus 640 ± 1301 min., respectively) for insured versus uninsured patients (p <.O1). The observed proportion of non-whites transported was less than expected (.41% versus 2.1 %) based on the proportion of non-whites in the region (p <.O5).

The TTT was longer for adults than for children and for the insured than the uninsured. Non-whites were transported less frequently than predicted.

A multiple patient incident involving a commercial airliner is a challenge for any community EMS system. When the community is on a remote island in the North Pacific Ocean, where there is no hospital and only a small clinic staffed by just one physician and several nurses and technicians, the challenge is much greater. The incident described herein necessitated providing emergency care at the airport, and at the same time, activating a response capability from hundreds of miles away to transport the patients to definitive care. The situation was compounded further by the fact that most of those injured spoke little or no English. This paper reviews the events that occurred and the lessons learned..

To identify the events that occurred when a commercial airliner, with more than 250 passengers and crew aboard, experienced an in-flight “upset” that resulted in many being injured. What was learned may help other areas be better prepared for such events.

A commercial airliner incident that occurred in April, 1993 resulted in the need for emergency medical care at the remote island location of Shemya, Alaska initially, and fixed-wing transport of the injured to definitive care in Anchorage, Alaska, USA, which is about 1,300 miles (2,130 km) from Shemya.

A case review methodology was used that included interviews with key persons involved in the response to this incident to learn first-hand what occurred; by review of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reports, and by having agencies involved in the event review draft report materials to ensure accuracy.

This study showed how a remote site with a small cadre of medically trained personnel could organize and effectively provide initial emergency care for >200 persons, an have them transported more than a thousand miles to definitive care.

Valuable lessons were learned from this incident that may help other areas be better prepared, particularly in remote areas, for large multiple patient events.