On 21 September, 1999, an earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale, struck central Taiwan near the town of Chi-Chi. The event resulted in 2,405 deaths and 11,306 injuries. Ad hoc emergency medical assistance teams (EMATs) from Taiwan assumed the responsibility for initiating early assessments and providing medical care.

To determine whether the EMATs served a key role in assisting critically injured patients through the assessment of number and level of hospitals responding, training background, timeliness of response, and acuity of patient encounters.

Local and national health bureaus were contacted to identify hospitals that responded to the disaster. A comprehensive questionnaire was piloted and then, sent to those major medical centers that dispatched EMATs within the first 72 hours following the quake. In-depth interviews also were conducted with team leaders.

A total number of 104 hospitals/clinics responded to the disaster, including nine major medical centers and 12 regional hospitals. Each of the major medical centers/regional hospitals that dispatched EMATs during the first 72 hours following the quake were surveyed. Also, 20 individual team leaders were interviewed. Seventy-nine percent of the EMATs from the hospitals responded spontaneously to the scene, while only 21% were dispatched directly by national or local health authorities. Combining the phases of the disaster response, it is estimated that only 7% of EMATs were providing on-site care within the first 12 hours following the earthquake, 17% within <18 hours, and 20% within <24 hours. Thus, 80% of these EMATs required >24 hours to respond to the site. Based on a ED I-IV triage system (Level-I, highest acuity; Level-IV, lowest acuity), the vast majority of patient encounters consisted of Level-III and Level-IV patients. Fewer than 16% of teams encountered >10 Level-I patients, and <28% of teams evaluated >10 Level-II patients.

1. The response from EMATs was impressive, but largely uncoordinated in the absence of a pre-existing dispatching mechanism.

2. Most of the EMATs required >24 hours to reach the disaster sites, and generally, did not arrive in time to affect the outcome of victims with preventable deaths. Therefore, there is an urgent need to strengthen local prehospital care.

3. A central governmental body that ensures better horizontal and vertical integration, and a comprehensive emergency management system is required in order to improve future disaster response and mitigation efforts.

In the wake of domestic terrorists attacks on 11 September 2001 and subsequent bioterrorist events employing anthrax, there no longer can be any debate about the potential for attacks employing Nuclear, Biological, or Chemical (NBC)/Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). As one way of acknowledging this long-standing threat and, in a concerted effort to mitigate the effects of possible future domestic NBC/WMD terrorist attacks, the US Department of Defense (DOD) and other US governmental agencies already had mounted an effort to provide Domestic Preparedness Training for First Responders in urban centers throughout the USA.

A paper and pencil questionnaire specifically designed to evaluate the effectiveness of Domestic Preparedness Training for Emergency First Responders has been developed. An earlier version of this instrument was piloted with a convenience sample of firefighters and paramedics (n = 78) in a northwest state. Based on replies to the pilot questionnaire, a pool of 27 items based on the objectives and content of the NBC/WMD Domestic Preparedness Awareness and Operations courses (plus additional background and appraised competency items) were selected for inclusion in a Domestic Preparedness Questionnaire (DPQ).

This paper first describes the essential psychometric properties of the DPQ based on replies from baseline and follow-up samples (n = 206 and n = 246 respectively) of urban firefighters and paramedics employed by a metropolitan city in a northwest state. The DPQ was employed to evaluate the outcomes of Domestic Preparedness training provided to a sample of urban fire-service personnel. The DPQ documented significant improvements in a group of “DP trained”-urban firefighters (n = 80) both in their awareness and operations content knowledge as well as in their perceived competencies to respond to acts of biological, chemical, or nuclear terrorism “in their own community” at four months post-training. A comparison group of “Not DP-trained” firefighters (n = 78) showed no statistically significant changes on these DPQ indices, suggesting that the documented improvements in the “DP-trained” firefighters on the DPQ were not due to “test reactivity” or to “historical” factors.

The findings suggest that the DPQ has adequate inter-item and test-retest reliability, possesses concurrent validity, and appears to be a sensitive measure of the Domestic Preparedness Training provided for urban firefighter and paramedic First Responders.

To identify the vulnerabilities of elderly to disasters, and to develop strategies to address these vulnerabilities.

A relevant literature search of journal articles, government training materials, news reports, and materials from senior organizations was conducted.

The vulnerability of the elderly to disasters is related to their impaired physical mobility, diminished sensory awareness, chronic health conditions, and social and economic limitations that prevent adequate preparation for disasters, and hinder their adaptability during disasters. Frail elderly, those with serious physical, cognitive, economic, and psycho-social problems, are at especially high risk.

This segment of the population is growing rapidly. Therefore, it is important that emergency management recognize the frail elderly as a special needs population, and develop targeted strategies that meet their needs. Several management strategies are presented and recommendations for further action are proposed.

At 08:53 hours on 26 January 2001, an earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale devastated a large, drought-affected area of northwestern India, the state of Gujarat. The known number killed by the earthquake is 20,005, with 166,000 injured, of whom 20,717 were “seriously” injured. About 370,000 houses were destroyed, and another 922,000 were damaged.

A community health worker using the local language interviewed all of the patients admitted to the Gandhi-Lincoln hospital with an on-site, oral, real-time, Victim Specific Questionnaire (VSQ).

The census showed a predominance of women, children, and young adults, with the average age being 28 years. The majority of the patients had other family members who were also injured (84%), but most had not experienced deaths among family members (86%). Most of the patients (91%) had traveled more than 200 kilometers using their family cars, pick-ups, trucks, or buses to reach the buffer zone hospitals. The daily hospital admission rate returned to pre-event levels five days after the event, and all of the hospital services were restored by nine days after the quake. Most of the patients (83%) received definitive treatment in the buffer zone hospitals; 7% were referred to tertiary-care centers; and 9% took discharge against medical advice.

The entrapped village folk with their traditional architecture had lesser injuries and a higher rescue rate than did the semi-urban townspeople, who were trapped in collapsed concrete masonry buildings and narrow alleys. However, at the time of crisis, aware townspeople were able to tap the available health resources better than were the poor. There was a low incidence of crush injuries. Volunteer doctors from various backgrounds teamed up to meet the medical crisis. International relief agencies working through local groups were more effective. Local relief groups needed to coordinate better. Disaster tourism by various well-meaning agencies took a toll on the providers. Many surgeries may have contributed to subsequent morbidity.

The injury profile was similar to that reported for most other daytime earthquakes. Buffer zone treatment outcomes were better than were the field and damaged hospital outcomes.

The types of medical care required during a disaster are determined by variables such as the cycle and nature of the disaster. Following a flood, there exists the potential for transmission of water-borne diseases and for increased levels of endemic illnesses such as vector-borne diseases. Therefore, consideration of the situation of infectious diseases must be addressed when providing relief.

The Japan Disaster Relief ( JDR) Medical Team was sent to Mozambique where a flood disaster occurred during January to March 2000. The team operated in the Hokwe area of the State of Gaza, in the mid-south of Mozambique where damage was the greatest.

An epidemiological study was conducted. Information was collected from medical records by abstracting data at local medical facilities, interviewing in habitants and evacuees, and conducting analyses of water.

A total of 2,611 patients received medical care during the nine days. Infectious diseases were detected in 85% of all of patients, predominantly malaria, respiratory infectious diseases, and diarrhea. There was no outbreak of cholera or dysentery. Self-reports of the level of health decreased among the flood victims after the event. The incidence of malaria increased by four to five times over non-disaster periods, and the quality of drinking water deteriorated after the event.

Both the number of patients and the incidence of endemic infectious diseases, such as malaria and diarrhea, increased following the flood. Also, there was a heightening of risk factors for infectious diseases such as an increase in population, deterioration of physical strength due to the shortage of food and the temporary living conditions for safety purposes, and turbid degeneration of drinking water. These findings support the hypotheses that there exists the potential for the increased transmission of water borne diseases and that there occurs increased levels of endemic illnesses during the post-flood period.

Post-injury hypothermia is a risk predictor in trauma patients whose physiology is deranged. The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of simple, in-field, hypothermia prevention to victims of penetrating trauma during long prehospital evacuations.

A total of 170 consecutively injured landmine victims were included in a prospective, clinical study in Northern Iraq and Cambodia. Thirty patients were provided with systematic prehospital hypothermia prevention, and for 140 patients, no preventive measures were provided.

The mean value for the time from injury to hospital admission was 6.6 hours (range: 0.2–72). The incidence of hypothermia (oral temperature <36°C) before prevention/rewarming was 21% (95% confidence interval: 15% to 28%). The Prevention Group had a statistically significant lower rate of hypothermia on hospital admission compared to the control group (95% confidence interval for difference: 6% to 24%).

Simple, preventive, in-field measures help to prevent hypothermia during protracted evacuation, and should be part of the trauma care protocol in rural rescue systems.

The objective was to test, in this trauma system, the North American hypothesis that exceeding the 60-minute limit for the entire prehospital time (“golden hour of shock”) increases mortality of blunt polytrauma patients.

In a prospective, observational, cohort study conducted between 1990 and 1996, a severity characterization of trauma (ASCOT) score was used to compare the actual mortality with the predicted mortality in 107 blunt polytrauma patients (Group 1) with prehospital rescue periods ≤60 minutes (time from accident until arrival at the emergency department). The same comparison was performed for 147 blunt polytrauma patients (Group 2) with rescue periods >60 minutes. Inclusion criteria were blunt trauma of at least two body sites, an Injury Severity Score (ISS) of ≥8, and direct admission to the trauma centre. Multivariate regression analysis was performed to test for bias and confounding, and to identify factors that might influence mortality. Odd ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated.

The mortality in Group 1 was 14%, and was not statisticvally significantly higher than the 10.2% observed for Group 2. 4.8 patients, or 47% more than predicted, died in Group 1 (p = 0.057). The corresponding figures in Group 2 were 4.2 patients or 22% fewer than predicted (p = 0.19). Multivariate logistic regression confirmed this trend with a significant mortality odds ratio of 8 (95% CI 1.7 to 38.5) for Group 1 compared to Group 2. Significantly more patients in Group 2 were treated by emergency physicians.

It appears in this trauma system, in which emergency physicians often are deployed, that the ‘golden hour of shock’ can be extended safely in many blunt polytrauma patients, since this was associated with better survival figures than in those patients for whom the time was <1 hour.

On 18 July 2001, a train hauling hazardous materials, including hydrochloric acid, hydrofluoric acid, and acetic acid, derailed in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, resulting in a fire that burned under a downtown street for five days. Firefighters were stymied in their efforts to extinguish the fire, and the city was subjected to thick smoke for several days.

To determine whether an urban chemical fire with a hazardous materials spill resulted in a detectable public health impact, and to demo-graphically describe the at-risk population for potential smoke and chemical exposure.

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was consulted about possible side effects from chemical exposure. Total numbers of emergency department (ED) patients and admissions from 15:00 hours (h), 15 July 2001 to 15:00 h, 21 July 2001 were collected from five local hospitals. Patient encounters citing specified chief complaints from 15:00 h, 15 July to 15:00 h, 18 July (pre-accident) were compared with the period from 15:00 h, July 18 to 15:00 h, 21 July (post-accident). Data were analyzed using Fisher's exact test. The United States Census Bureau's Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (TIGER) digital database of geographic features and ArcView Geographic Information Systems (GIS) were used to create maps of Baltimore and to identify populations at-risk using attribute census data. Results: There were 62,808 people residing in the immediate, affected area. The mean of the values for age was 33.7 ±3.2 years (standard deviation; range = 16 yrs) with 49% (30,927) males and 51% (31,881) females. A total of 2,922 ED patient encounters were screened. Chief complaints included shortness of breath, pre-event = 109 vs. post-event = 148; chest complaints = 90 vs. 113; burns and/or skin irritation = 45 vs. 42; eye irritation 26 vs. 34; throat irritation = 33 vs. 27; and smoke exposure = 0 vs. 15. There was a statistically significant increase (p <0.05) for shortness of breath and smoke exposure-related complaints. No statistically significant increase in numbers of admitted patients with these complaints was found.

In the setting of a large-scale urban chemical fire, local EDs can expect a significant increase in the number of patients presenting to EDs with shortness of breath and/or smoke inhalation. Most do not require inpatient hospitalization. Careful assessment of impact on local EDs should be considered in future city-accident planning. Some official warnings were widely misinterpreted or ignored. Public education on potential hazards and disaster preparedness targeted to populations at-risk should receive a high priority. Geographic information systems (GIS) may serve as useful tools for identifying demographics of populations at-risk for disaster planning and responses.

The New Injury Severity Score (NISS) was introduced in 1997 to improve outcome prediction based on anatomical severity scoring in trauma victims. Studies on populations of blunt trauma victims indicate that the NISS, predicts better than the Injury Severity Score (ISS) mortality post-injury, which is why the NISS has been recommended as the new “gold standard” for severity scoring. However, so far the accuracy of the NISS for penetrating injuries has not been validated against the ISS.

ISS and NISS scores were collected retrospectively for 1,787 war-and landmine victims in North Iraq. All victims only had penetrating injuries. The two tests were compared for prediction of short-term mortality and post-operative complications using Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) analysis.

Both the ISS and the NISS predicted mortality with high accuracy (ROC area under curve 0.9). There were no significant differences between the two tests. The predictive accuracy for post-operative complications was moderate for both tests (ROC-AUC <0.8), with the NISS performing significantly better than the ISS.

The NISS does not perform better than the ISS in penetrating injuries. However, this study was done on a low-risk trauma population, thus the results should not be extrapolated to high severity trauma. Due to statistical shortcomings in studies previously published, studies on far larger cohorts are necessary before the NISS should be adopted as the new “gold standard” for severity scoring.

Traffic crashes constitute a major, worldwide public-health problem that cause disabilities, life-long suffering, and huge economic losses. When a person is injured in a traffic crash, actions taken by bystanders often are of crucial importance. To perform first-aid actions in a correct manner, bystanders, often lay persons, need both the courage and the knowledge to do so. For preventive purposes, society spends large resources to inform and educate the public in order to enhance people's ability to take correct actions. However, there only is little information on the rate in a population of persons who have had first-aid training, have been bystanders at a traffic crash, on the actions taken by such persons, and on effects of first-aid training on patient care.

The aim of this study was to acquire knowledge about: (1) the prevalence of first-aid training; (2) the incidence of being a bystander and of the first aid provided at traffic crashes and other emergencies; and (3) the impact of first-aid training on the risks people take in road traffic.

A questionnaire was administered to 2,800 randomly selected persons aged 18–74 years.

The response rate was 67.5%. During the previous five years, 39% of the population had received first-aid training, with a higher rate among younger individuals and those with a higher education. After training, 30% of the respondents had used their skills, and 41% took fewer risks in traffic, particularly those who were older or had a lower level of education. Fourteen percent of those with training (significantly more men) had been bystanders at a traffic crash. At 20% of the crashes, a bystander had administered first aid, and one-third of those who provided such assistance had had use of their training. Conclusion: Intensified first-aid training of the general public could lead to citizens who are more cautious in traffic and to bystanders who provide more immediate and adequate first aid at traffic crashes and other emergencies.