Cyclonic Storms ; Disasters ; Health Status ; Humans

The digital dust indicator (Sibata P-5), one of the direct-reading instruments was evaluated for the respirable dust in the underground coal mine environments. As a reference, respirable dust was determined using three cyclones and/or impactors. All the tests were performed on aerosol in twenty underground coal mines. The coefficients of mass-relative concentration were 0.067+/-0.054 (Mean+/-Standard deviation) (range: 0.006-0.172). The relationship between relative concentration and temperature was not significant statistically. Also, the relationship of relative concentration and relative humidity was not significant. Mass concentration and relative concentration were 5.31+/-5.22 mg/m3 and 162+/-163 CPM (Mean+/-Standard deviation) respectively. The range of mass concentration was 1.22-22.69 mg/m3; relative concentration 16-628 CPM. The relationship of mass concentration and relative concentration was not significant in these ranges.
Coal ; Cyclonic Storms ; Dust* ; Humans ; Humidity

PURPOSE: On November 8, 2013, Typhoon Haiyan attacked the Philippines, causing damage to many houses and trees as well as loss of many lives. A medical team from our hospital and university was sent to Philippines in order to provide medical assistance. We wish to describe our experiences of disaster medicine and discuss problems and improvement points. METHODS: We analyzed the characteristics of patients who received medical treatment administered by us at Tagobon city in the Philippines for five days. RESULTS: We provided medical services to 951 patients for five days. Most patients visited us for medical treatment not trauma. Almost all chief complaints were associated with respiratory, gastrointestinal, dermatologic, and ophthalmologic symptoms. We mainly treated the patients with medications. CONCLUSION: During the subacute period after the disaster, most patients complained of medical and dermatologic problems due to lack of sanitation rather than traumatic complications. Medical assistance for disaster should be administered appropriately according to the types of diseases that occurduring each period after disaster.
Cyclonic Storms* ; Disaster Medicine ; Disasters* ; Humans ; Medical Assistance* ; Philippines* ; Sanitation

BACKGROUND: Despite existing disaster preparedness policies in the Philippines, there has not been any validated assessment of the quality of disaster medical response, which would require reliable aggregate data on patient diagnoses and management.

OBJECTIVE: This mixed-methods study documented the diagnoses, triage classification and case management of patients seen by Philippine EMS groups who responded to the Typhoon Haiyan disaster in the Philippines in November and December 2013, as well as difficulties associated in gathering these data, using the Utstein-style Template for Uniform Data Reporting of Acute Medical Response in Disasters as framework.

METHODS: Three hundred (300) individuals vetted by EMS organizations were invited to answer a survey modeled after the Utstein-style template, and submit tallies of patients seen. Out of 52 responses received, policy recommendations were subsequently generated on concerns assessed by the template using the nominal group technique.

RESULTS: The submitted data yielded a total of 41,202 patients with information on age, sex, and diagnosis; 19,193 with triage classification; and 27,523 with information on case management. The focus group discussion underlined the absence of a standard communication and information management system. Participants recommended establishing such a system and highlighted the role of the Department of Health - Health Emergency Management Bureau in coordinating disaster medical response efforts and information management.

CONCLUSION: This study underlines the importance of effective communication, and multisectoral coordination, to generate reliable data and thus, facilitate resource allocation for disaster medical response.

Human ; Cyclonic Storms ; Disaster Medicine ; Emergency Medical Services ; Relief Work

Objectives: The goal of the research was to provide local data on the varieties of posttraumatic symptomatology among survivors of Super typhoon Haiyan in a rural community in Merida, Leyte. Methodology: This is a single point non-invasive study of Filipino survivors of typhoon Yolanda who came from Merida, Leyte, involving administration of a symptom checklist i.e. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist- Civilian version (PCL-C) to assess the occurrence of posttraumatic symptoms in the selected group of volunteers with no history of psychiatric illness. The PCL-C was given as part of a community screening for symptoms of PTSD conducted three months after the typhoon. There were two ways of scoring the PTSD Checklist- Civilian version (PCL-C) - either by computing for the total severity score or by scoring each response category just like one would in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM IV TR) criteria. The sum of all PCL-C item scores indicated the severity of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). A score of 30 and above represented the occurrence of PTSD. T-test was used to determine differences in the severity scores of those who met the criteria for PTSD using the total "severity scoring method" and those who did not. Results: A total of 29 respondents took part in the study where the majority were female (28/29 or 96.55%). The results showed that Filipinos suffered more re-experiencing symptoms but less avoidance symptoms compared to the DSM IV-TR criteria. Nine of 29 (31.03%) respondents were assessed as having Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) based on the total "severity score method': However, none fulfilled the PTSD DSM IV TR criteria when the response "category scoring method" was used. Those who met the severity criteria had significantly higher scores in items 1 (Repeated, disturbing memories, thoughts, or images of a stressful experience from the past?), 3 (Suddenly acting or feeling as if a stressful experience were happening again?), 5 (Having physical reactions when something reminded you of a stressful experience from the past?), 6 (Avoid thinking about or talking about a stressful experience from the past or avoid having feelings related to it?) and 13 (Trouble falling or staying asleep?). Conclusion There seems to be a difference in how the Filipinos experience trauma compared to Western models such as described in the Diagnostic Symptom Manual (DSM IV TR) criteria though caution is warranted in interpreting the results due to the small sample size and the predominance of female respondents.
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic ; Natural Disasters ; Cyclonic Storms

Mental health is one of the most important issues for disaster survivors, and many studies have reported higher rates of mental health problems after disasters. Because Japan has experienced frequent earthquakes, tsunami, typhoons, and volcanoes, mental health problems have been a matter of great concern after disasters in Japan. To serve the psychiatric services after the Hanshin-Awaji (Kobe) earthquake, 'Hyogo institute for traumatic stress' was established. And when the disaster caused by the great east Japan earthquake and tsunami occurred, 'National information center of disaster mental health' and 'Disaster psychiatric assistance team' had the important role of reducing mental health problems.
Cyclonic Storms ; Disasters* ; Earthquakes ; Humans ; Information Centers ; Japan* ; Mental Health* ; Survivors ; Trauma Centers ; Tsunamis

Child ; Child, Preschool ; China ; epidemiology ; Cyclonic Storms ; Dysentery ; epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Male

OBJECTIVETo determine the risk factors involved in the typhoon episodes and to put forward and evaluate the intervention measures.

METHODSWe defined a confirmed injury case as: 'a person with fall,scalpel and stab, collision, drowning, injuries and trauma due to flying debris and building collapse, asphyxiation due to entrapment in collapsed buildings by typhoon from 0 am,August 12 to 6 pm, August 14 2004' and a death case as: 'a person with fall, scalpel and stab, collision, drowning, injuries and trauma due to flying debris and building collapse, asphyxiation due to entrapment in collapsed buildings by typhoon from 0 am, August 12 to 12 am, August 18 2004'. We investigated all hospitalized injured cases in ten hospitals and telephoned to those who were not hospitalized and the cases of death. We did case-control study with 1 pair versus 2 cases. 74 cases were selected in ten hospitals. The controls were neighbors of the controls matched by occupation, sex, village, and within 5 years of age without injury in this typhoon. We asked the cases and the controls on their alertness regarding typhoon and what actions taken when typhoon arrived.

RESULTSThere were 392 injury cases in all ten hospitals and 50 death cases. The attack rate of injury was 27.3 per 100 000. The fatal rate was 11.3% with the death rate 3.1 per 100 000. We investigated 209 injury cases and 31 death cases. The number of cases who were injured from 1 to 6 hours before typhoon landing accounted for 64.6% (155) of all cases. The peak of epidemic curve was 4 hours before the landing of typhoon. Data on the analysis of 74 cases and 148 controls revealed that 42% (31) of the cases were outside their homes before and during typhoon compared to 15% (22) of the controls (OR = 3.9, 95% CI: 1.9-7.7). Compared with 20% (30) control persons (OR = 17,95% CI: 4.2-68). 28% (21) cases did not receive the alert of typhoon before it arrived compared with 18% (27) control persons (OR = 3.3, 95% CI:1.3-8.6). 53% (39) of the cases did not pay attention to the alert of typhoon before typhoon arrived.

CONCLUSIONStaying outdoor, not receiving or did not take seriously about the alert of typhoon seemed to be the risk factors of injury by the typhoon episode, suggesting that the government should increase the emergency preparedness and to raise the awareness on risks associated with typhoon.

Cause of Death ; China ; epidemiology ; Cyclonic Storms ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Risk Factors ; Wounds and Injuries ; epidemiology ; mortality

OBJECTIVE: While the effect of typhoons on emergency medicine has been evaluated, data are scarce on their effects on the emergency medical service (EMS). This study evaluated the effect of typhoons on EMS patients and performance. METHODS: The study period was January 2010 to December 2012. Meteorological data regarding typhoons were provided by the Korean Meteorological Administration. EMS data were retrieved from the EMS database of the national emergency management agency. The database includes ambulance run sheets, which contain clinical and operational data. In this case-crossover study, the cases and controls were EMS calls on the day of typhoon warnings and calls one week prior to the typhoon warnings, respectively. RESULTS: During the study period, 11 typhoons affected Korea. A total of 14,521 cases were selected for analysis. Overall, there were no obvious differences between the case and control groups. However, there were statistically significant differences in age, place, and time requests. There were fewer patients between 0 and 15 years of age (P=0.01) and more unconscious patients (P=0.01) in the case group. The EMS operational performance, as measured by the times elapsed between call to start, call to field, and call to hospital did not differ significantly. There was also no significant difference in the time from hospital arrival between the cases (28.67, standard deviation 16.37) and controls (28.97, standard deviation 28.91) (P=0.39). CONCLUSION: Typhoons did not significantly affect the EMS system in this study. Further study is necessary to understand the reasons for this finding.
Ambulances ; Cyclonic Storms* ; Disasters ; Emergencies* ; Emergency Medical Services* ; Emergency Medicine ; Humans ; Korea

OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of psychosocial problems among residents of four flood-prone barangays in Manila located along the Maricaban-Malibay creek in Pasay City and were reported to have experienced 10-15 feet-deep flood waters simultaneously caused by Typhoon Maring and the southwest monsoon in August 2013.
METHODOLOGY: A stratified two-stage random cluster sampling method, adapted from the Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response (CASPER) Toolkit, was employed in the syudy. The first stage of sampling used street clusters, with more or less of the same size, as the primary sampling unites (PSU) and households as secondary sampling units (SSU) to select the households that will be included in the survey. Since the clusters were more or less of the same size, they ahd equal chances of being selected in the study if the probability of selection is proportionate to size (PPS). Seven houses were then randomly chosen from the 30 selected clusters. All of the househol heads from the 210 selected households were given several copies of the self-administered questionnairescalled the Self-Reporting Questionnaire-20 (SRQ-20), a screening tool developed by WHO, to determine the psychosocial condition of the household members 12-65 years.
RESULTS: The prevalence of psychosocial distress in this population was estimated at 17% (95%CI=13.7-20.3%). The residents of the study barangays were in their rehabilitation phase i.e., three months post disaster when data was collected for this study. The study also characterized the households in the sample according to socio-economic status, presence of members with special needs, and presence of children 0-5 years ol. In the aftermath of the disaster, 46.84% of the respondents had positive answer on the group of questions about decreased energy, 49.8% on somatic symptoms,25.89% on depressive thoughts and 40.91% on depressive moods.There was a higher prevalence of these 4 factors among females, those separated, with low socioeconomic status and low educational attainment.
CONCLUSION: The estimated prevalence of psychosocial distress was 17% (95%CI=13.7%-20.3%), In the aftermath of the disaster, 46.8% of the respondents had positive answer on the group of questions about decreased energy, 49.8% on somatic symptoms, 25.9% on depressive thoughts and 40.9% on depressive moods.

Human ; Male ; Female ; Depression ; Anxiety ; Stress Disorders, Post-traumatic ; Cyclonic Storms ; Floods