Disaster Planning ; organization & administration ; Emergencies ; Emergency Medical Services ; organization & administration ; Humans ; Public Health ; methods

China ; Disaster Planning ; organization & administration ; Emergency Medical Services ; organization & administration ; Humans ; Wounds and Injuries ; prevention & control ; therapy

Disasters ; Earthquakes ; Emergency Medical Services ; manpower ; organization & administration ; Liability, Legal ; Public Health Practice

China ; Disasters ; Earthquakes ; Emergency Medical Services ; manpower ; organization & administration ; Humans ; Public Health Practice

OBJECTIVETo investigate the capacity for risk identification, assessment, and mitigation in public health emergency management in China.

METHODSFour provinces were randomly selected using stratified sampling. All the municipalities under these four provinces were assessed using the 3rd subscale (Risk Identification, Risk Assessment, and Risk Mitigation) of Preparedness and Response Capacity Questionnaire for Public Health Emergencies Used in Provincial or Municipal Governments, which was developed by the Center for Health Statistics and Information, Ministry of Health of the People's Republic of China.

RESULTSSixty of 66 questionnaires (90.91%) were collected. Among 60 investigated municipalities, 35 (58%) identified the potential public health emergencies, 17 (28%) assessed the risks for the identified emergencies, and 5 (8%) conducted risk assessments for the locally accident-prone factories, mines, corporations, and big establishments, 6 (10%) identified the priorities in public health emergency management based on risk assessment, 6 (10%) developed special prevention strategies for main public health emergencies, 3 (5%) assessed the vulnerability of local residents to public health emergencies, and 34 (57%) assessed or were assessing the preparedness and response capacity for public health emergencies in the past 2 years. The mean of standard total score for risk identification, assessment, and mitigation was 24.05 (95% CI: 18.32, 29.77).

CONCLUSIONRisk identification, assessment, and mitigation still require further improvement in China, and both the central and local authorities should implement more effective and efficient measures.

Tianjin Medical University General Hospital treated 233 wounded in 8.12 Tinjin Port explosion. Here we would like to analyze the treatment process for the wounded, and share the experiences of orga- nization and management for emergency rescue operation.
Blast Injuries ; therapy ; China ; Emergency Medical Services ; organization & administration ; Explosions ; Hospitals, University ; organization & administration ; Humans ; Mass Casualty Incidents ; Triage

OBJECTIVE: To develop a capacity questionnaire in public health emergency for Chinese local governments. METHODS: Literature reviews, conceptual modelling, stake-holder analysis, focus group, interview, and Delphi technique were employed together to develop the questionnaire. Classical test theory and case study were used to assess the reliability and validity. RESULTS: (1) A 2-dimension conceptual model was built. A preparedness and response capacity questionnaire in public health emergency with 10 dimensions and 204 items, was developed. (2) Reliability and validity results. Internal consistency: except for dimension 3 and 8, the Cronbach's alpha coefficient of other dimensions was higher than 0.60. The alpha coefficients of dimension 3 and dimension 8 were 0.59 and 0.39 respectively; Content validity: the questionnaire was recognized by the investigatees; Construct validity: the Spearman correlation coefficients among the 10 dimensions fluctuated around 0.50, ranging from 0.26 to 0.75 (P<0.05); Discrimination validity: comparisons of 10 dimensions among 4 provinces did not show statistical significance using One-way analysis of variance (P>0.05). Criterion-related validity: case study showed significant difference among the 10 dimensions in Beijing between February 2003 (before SARS event) and November 2005 (after SARS event). CONCLUSION The preparedness and response capacity questionnaire in public health emergency is a reliable and valid tool, which can be used in all provinces and municipalities in China.
China ; Community Health Services ; Disaster Planning ; organization & administration ; Emergency Medical Services ; organization & administration ; Humans ; Public Health ; education ; Risk Assessment ; Surveys and Questionnaires

The three links theory applied in trauma emergency care system refers to an integrated system with the three important components of trauma emergency care system, viz. prehospital trauma services, hospital trauma services and critical care services. The development of the trauma emergency care system should be guided by the three links theory so as to set up a practical and highly efficient system: a prompt operating and monitoring transportation system, a smooth and real-time information system, a rational and sustainable system of regulations and contingency plans, and a system for cultivating all-round trauma physicians.
China ; Delivery of Health Care, Integrated ; organization & administration ; Emergency Medical Service Communication Systems ; organization & administration ; Emergency Medical Services ; organization & administration ; Emergency Medicine ; organization & administration ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; organization & administration ; Humans ; Models, Organizational ; Practice Guidelines as Topic ; Transportation of Patients ; organization & administration ; Wounds and Injuries ; therapy

In this paper, an emergency telemedicine system was designed for the transmission of real-time multimedia for remote consultation, including radiological images, patient records, video-conferencing, full-quality video, ECG, BP, respiration, temperature, SpO2, systolic and diastolic pressures and heart rate. The standardized, modular, software-based design architecture, without resorting to external hardware compression boards, enables the low-cost implementation of the telemedicine system, using the unified, systematic and compact integration of multimedia on general personal computers. Experimental tests on local networks analyze the technical aspects of designed systems, and inter-hospital experiments demonstrate its clinical usefulness.
*Computer Systems ; Computers ; Emergency Medical Services/*organization & administration ; Emergency Service, Hospital/*organization & administration ; Equipment Design ; Human ; Pilot Projects ; Remote Consultation/*organization & administration ; Software ; Support, Non-U.S. Gov't ; Telemedicine/*organization & administration

PURPOSE: Empathy in medical practice is related to medical communication and clinical competence. In previous studies, low quality of life and other factors play an integral role in low empathy among physicians. We evaluated the relationships between empathy, quality of life, and other factors among Korean emergency physicians. METHODS: The survey was conducted using email to emergency physicians. The respondents completed a questionnaire including demographic information, the Jefferson Scale of Empathy, and the Brief version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life assessment instrument. Correlation analyses were performed, along with sub-analyses according to gender. RESULTS: A total of 180 questionnaires were analyzed. The median value of the empathy scale was 89.0, and quality of life 64.8. Empathy was positively correlated with quality of life, age, and work experience as a specialist in total samples and males. Only work experience as a specialist showed correlation with empathy in females. Quality of life showed no association with age, work experience, and work load. However, quality of life showed negative correlation with age and work experience in female physicians. CONCLUSION: The more experienced specialist emergency physicians are, and the better quality of life they have, the higher level of empathy scale they have. Therefore, good quality of life could lead to good empathy, and vice versa. Good quality of life and good empathy could lead to the better outcome in emergency care. However, because the female physicians show different patterns of empathy and quality of life, further study is needed.
Clinical Competence ; Electronic Mail ; Emergencies* ; Emergency Medical Services ; Empathy* ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Quality of Life* ; Specialization ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; World Health Organization