A modern Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT) is a group of professional and para-professional medical personnel organized to provide rapid-response medical care during a disaster situation. DMAT is a part of the disaster response system that acts as a trained, mobile, self-contained medical team in the acute phase of a disaster to provide necessary services such as triage, treatment, and transportation of injured patients in the devastated disaster area. The timeliness of DMAT response is critical to the administration of medical care and reduction of immediate mortality in disaster. While the number of members in a DMAT may vary between different nations. A small-scale DMAT is often composed of five to six people and there is good reason to consider this an effective unit for early disaster medical responses. An adequate structure and training system should be provided for Korean DMAT development in the near future.
Disasters* ; Humans ; Mass Casualty Incidents ; Medical Assistance* ; Mortality ; Transportation ; Triage

The fatality rate of a disaster is associated with the impact of the disaster and the case fatality rate. The severity of the disaster can be reduced by an efficient disaster management system, and the capacity of the trained disaster response system can lower the case mortality rate. The severity of a disaster is determined by the interaction of risk factors and vulnerabilities in a particular area, and the case-fatality rate is determined by a correlation between the capacity of the disaster response team and the survivability of the victims. The disaster management system and the disaster response system are complementary and interconnected, and the efficiency of cooperation and linkage can be improved by developing well organized digitalization. Efforts to increase the survival rate of victims through digitalization has been a continued process and new alternatives are being developed in accordance with the advances in information and communication technology to manage disaster risk factors and to improve disaster response capabilities. However, in case of mass casualty incidents, it is still difficult to reduce the case mortality rate by securing the survival time limit of the victims. Often, sharing the disaster scene information and communicating with the victim is not feasible. A lack of ability to provide real time escape route to exit or safe zone proves fatal. The communication revolution of the next generation wireless wide area network called 5G can overcome the disruption of communication network during the disaster incidents. It can enable real time tracking of the position of victim and linking the victims with its rescuers. Hence, it is possible to increase the survival rate of victims during mass casualty incidents by associating information and communication technologies with appropriate disaster management and response strategies, real-time information exchange and education and training of rescuers and citizens.
Disasters ; Education ; Emergencies ; Mass Casualty Incidents ; Mortality ; Risk Factors ; Survival Rate ; United Nations

Mass casualty disasters have complex communication requirement. The involvement of many different communication systems and agencies and the difficulty of exchanging information between them is a perplexing problem. This may be compounded by telecommunication systems overload or failure, and electric service disruptions in the disaster area. In addition, emergencies are characterized by a sudden need for an increased information flow, an explosion in the topographical complexity of the information network, and a feeling of intense psychological pressure among the participants. The rescue, treatment, evacuation of a lot of patients from a natural disaster or mass casualties must be performed in accordance to several national agencies. Without an effective communication system, morbidity and mortality will needlessly rise. The stabilization and evacuation off lot of patients in a disaster is a serious and complex medical problem that must be resolved expeditiously. The potential far maximizing care depends on an well-organized rescue. However, without adequate communications, the patient may experience needless delays into the health care system an6 thus compromise prognosis. Established communication systems in most communities consist of private services, provincial and national agencies, and military and amateur radio operator. A disaster situation can severely disrupt routine telephone and radio communication. Customary frequencies may be incompatible with military and emergency civilian frequencies or become overloaded and useless because of intense activity. In a disaster, local telephone communication resources may be destroyed: qualified staffing of communications networks may be inadequate or unavailable to cope with the demands of the emergency. So, we recommend, that Amateur Radio should be provide as a effective emergency communication in a disaster.
Delivery of Health Care ; Disasters* ; Emergencies* ; Explosions ; Humans ; Information Services ; Mass Casualty Incidents ; Military Personnel ; Mortality ; Prognosis ; Telecommunications ; Telephone

The objective of study was to evaluate the incidence and mortality rates of disasters and mass casualty incidents (MCIs) over the past 10 yr in the administrative system of Korea administrative system and to examine their relationship with population characteristics. This was a population-based cross-sectional study. We calculated the nationwide incidence, as well as the crude mortality and injury incidence rates, of disasters and MCIs. The data were collected from the administrative database of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and from provincial fire departments from January 2000 to December 2009. A total of 47,169 events were collected from the NEMA administrative database. Of these events, 115 and 3,079 cases were defined as disasters and MCIs that occurred in Korea, respectively. The incidence of technical disasters/MCIs was approximately 12.7 times greater than that of natural disasters/MCIs. Over the past 10 yr, the crude mortality rates for disasters and MCIs were 2.36 deaths per 100,000 persons and 6.78 deaths per 100,000 persons, respectively. The crude injury incidence rates for disasters and MCIs were 25.47 injuries per 100,000 persons and 152 injuries per 100,000 persons, respectively. The incidence and mortality of disasters/MCIs in Korea seem to be low compared to that of trend around the world.
Cross-Sectional Studies ; Databases, Factual ; Disasters/*statistics & numerical data ; Humans ; Incidence ; Mass Casualty Incidents/*mortality ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology

Injuries are serious problem common to all societies. Yet even within a single community, groups of injured persons differ as to the nature and severity of their injuries. The difficulty of adjusting for such variations has hampered scientific study of injured persons. Neverthless it is essential to take differences in severity of injury into account when comparing the morhidity & mortality of various groups for the purpose of evaluating their emergency & subsequent care. In order to provide the guidelines of mass emergency care & transportation, the authors analysed the 206 injured patients of train accident at Kyungsan, May 14th, 1981 and compared mortality with severity and body system of the injuries. The results were obtained as follows: l. Of 206 injured patients, most were young people & the ratio of male & female was about equal. 2. Extremities were the most frequently injured parts of body system & single injury was more common. 3. According to most severe injury of AIS, 78% of injured persons belonged to below AIS grade 3 and none was dead. 4. Average ISS of survival groups was 6 and that of death groups was 34. None was dead below average ISS of 15. 5. Death rate was higher for patients above 50 years of age, than that for young patients and there was no age difference in mortality for ISS of 50 and higher. 6. Majority of death group were invclved in multiple injuries and major cause of death were chest and head injuries. 7. Average ISS and age of hospital death group were less than those of DOA group. 8. The authors thought that it was necessary to estahlish Emergency Service System including training and education of both professionals and the pulic, hospital categorization, communication and transportation system for the mass emergency care.
Cause of Death ; Craniocerebral Trauma ; Education ; Emergencies ; Emergency Medical Services ; Extremities ; Female ; Gyeongsangbuk-do ; Humans ; Injury Severity Score ; Male ; Mass Casualty Incidents ; Mortality ; Multiple Trauma ; Thorax ; Transportation

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the characteristics of the emergency medical services (EMS) response and clinical information on mass casualty chemical incidents in Korea. METHODS: This retrospective observational study analyzed the integrated data of the EMS rescue records and EMS-treated severe trauma registry from January 2012 to December 2013. Two databases were integrated using the unique accident identification number. Chemical incidents were defined by an in-depth review of the EMS rescue records according to a previous study. Mass casualty incidents were defined as more than 6 injured individuals. The rescue, EMS, and hospital variables of mass casualty chemical incidents were analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 8 mass casualty chemical incidents and 73 patients were included. The mean responded rescue vehicles and EMS vehicles were 2.4 and 3.5, respectively. The 4 incidents were an oil spill due to traffic accidents and most patients suffered minor trauma. A carbon monoxide leak caused the largest number of patients (23 people). The explosion caused by flammable polyethylene leaks showed the highest severity. In that explosion, the mortality rate was 40% and 8 patients had a disability at discharge. CONCLUSION: This study evaluated the characteristics of the EMS response and clinical information on mass casualty chemical incidents in Korea.
Accidents, Traffic ; Carbon Monoxide ; Chemical Hazard Release* ; Emergency Medical Services ; Explosions ; Humans ; Korea ; Mass Casualty Incidents* ; Mortality ; Observational Study ; Petroleum Pollution ; Polyethylene ; Retrospective Studies

OBJECTIVEThe 8.12 Tianjin Port Explosion in 2015 caused heavy casualties. Pingjin Hospital, an affiliated college hospital in Tianjin, China participated in the rescue activities. This study aims to analyze the emergency medical response to this event and share experience with trauma physicians to optimize the use of medical resource and reduce mortality of critical patients.

METHODSAs a trauma centre at the accident city, our hospital treated 298 patients. We retrospectively analyzed the data of emergency medical response, including injury triage, injury type, ICU patient flow, and medical resource use.

RESULTSThere were totally 165 deaths, 8 missing, and 797 non-fatal injuries in this explosion. Our hospital treated 298 casualties in two surges of medical demand. The first one appeared at 1 h after explosion when 147 wounded were received and the second one at 4 h when 31 seriously injured patients were received, among whom 29 were transferred from Tianjin Emergency Center which was responsible for the scene injury triage. After reexamination and triage, only 11 cases were defined as critical ill patients. The over-triage rate reached as high as 62.07%. Seventeen patients underwent surgery and 17 patients were admitted to the intensive care unit.

CONCLUSIONSThe present pre-hospital system is incomplete and may induce two surges of medical demand. The first one has a much larger number of casualties than predicted but the injury level is mild; while the second one has less wounded but almost all of them are critical patients. The over-triage rate is high. The hospital emergency response can be improved by an effective re-triage and implementation of a hospital-wide damage control.

Blast Injuries ; mortality ; therapy ; China ; Explosions ; Female ; Health Services Needs and Demand ; Hospitals, University ; organization & administration ; Humans ; Injury Severity Score ; Male ; Mass Casualty Incidents ; Retrospective Studies ; Surge Capacity ; Trauma Centers ; Triage

With the industrial development, vehicle, wars, and natural disasters, there are increasing chsnces of mass casuaities, it is very important to classify the injured patients by their severity, to give them immediate emergency care and to transfer them to the other medical facilities effectively. And it is more essential in the army. But in practice, there is no objective and comprehensive scale for injury severity yet. So we devised a method of comprehensive description for the injuredpatients. It is based on Abbreviated Injury Scale and Injury Severity Score and is composed of five parts of the body (General, Head & Neck, Chest, Abdomen, Extremities) and five degrees of severity (Grade I, Il, III, IV, V). For example, a description of a patient with multiple injuries such as generalized abrasion and cotusion, semicomatose mentality with skull fracture, hemoperitoneum, and fracture of right femoral shaft is very diffcult to understand quickly. But, with our method of description, the above is described as follows ; G(I)+(IV)+A (IV)+E(III), ISS =4+4+3 =41. And the high score is described as ISS makes it clear that the patient is very dangerous, even to death, so intensive care is immediately needed. Using this method, we reviewed 1,256 cases of passenger acidents of vehicles treated at our hospital during the last 2 years. The results were as follows ;1. The average ISS of 56 cases of dead is 33. 2. There are only 2 cases of death below 16 of ISS, and 84% mortality above 40 of ISS. 3. The average ISS of passengers in vehicles such as motocycles is 12, taxies 11, bongo 9, and buses 8. 4. We recommend our method of description for mass casualties, especially in the army. Because it is very useful to the injured patients by their severity, to give them immediate emergency care, to transfer them to the other medical facilities and to comprehend the whole condition of all patients.
Abbreviated Injury Scale ; Abdomen ; Critical Care ; Disasters ; Emergency Medical Services ; Head ; Hemoperitoneum ; Humans ; Industrial Development ; Injury Severity Score ; Mass Casualty Incidents ; Methods ; Mortality ; Motor Vehicles ; Multiple Trauma ; Neck ; Skull Fractures ; Thorax