Disasters ; Epidemiologic Studies ; Humans ; Relief Work

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

We conducted in-depth interviews with 11 Korean Disaster Relief Team (KDRT) members about stress related to disaster relief work and analyzed the interview data using the Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR) method in order to evaluate difficulties in disaster relief work and to develop solutions to these problems in cooperation with related organizations. Results showed that members typically experienced stress related to untrained team members, ineffective cooperation, and the shock and aftermath of aftershock experiences. Stress tended to stem from several factors: difficulties related to cooperation with new team members, the frightening disaster experience, and the aftermath of the disaster. Other stressors included conflict with the control tower, diverse problems at the disaster relief work site, and environmental factors. The most common reason that members participated in KDRT work despite all the stressors and difficulties was pride about the kind of work it involved. Many subjects in this study suffered from various stresses after the relief work, but they had no other choice than to attempt to forget about their experiences over time. It is recommended that the mental health of disaster relief workers will improve through the further development of effective treatment and surveillance programs in the future.
Disasters* ; Earthquakes* ; Mental Health ; Methods ; Nepal* ; Qualitative Research* ; Relief Work ; Rescue Work ; Shock

In the 21st century, natural disasters and emergencies occur frequently worldwide, which leads to the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives as well as the direct and indirect economic losses. China has a vast territory frequently struck by natural disasters. However, the reality is not optimistic. Poor organization and management during the rescue actions, the lack of large-scale, systematic medical rescue equipment were all great barriers to the outcomes. Mobile hospitals are expected to provide better health care. We were inspired by the concept of mobile hospital. Chongqing Emergency Medical Center, has set up trauma care system since 1988, in which prehospital care, intensive care, and in-hospital treatment is fully integrated. As a major advantage, such a system provided assurance of "golden hour" rescue treatment. Providing mobile intensive care and prehospital surgical service for severe trauma patients could reduce mortality significantly. Based on the civilian experiences in Chongqing Emergency Medical Center, the mobile emergency (surgical) hospital was developed.
China ; Earthquakes ; Emergency Medical Services ; Humans ; Mobile Health Units ; Relief Work ; Rescue Work

Disaster Medicine ; Earthquakes ; Emergency Medicine ; General Surgery ; Humans ; Relief Work ; Wounds and Injuries ; surgery

Meningococcal infection is a life threatening disease that leaves serious sequelae in spite of appropriate treatment, thus vaccination for high risk groups are important for the prevention of meningococcal diseases. However, the vaccine for Neisseria meningitidis has not been available in Korea until we introduced bivalent (serogroup A and C) polysaccharide vaccine for the first time for relief works in our university hospital. The vaccine was administered from January 2005 to March 2007 to 317 persons. Of the groups administered, the largest group among them were 133 (133/317, 42%) students who planned to study abroad and needed the vaccination for secure entrance to school dormitories. This group was followed by health care workers, travellers to the regions of the world with high risks of meningococcal diseases, and splenectomised patients. To rationalize the domestic use of meningococcal vaccine, the availability of vaccines first needs to be simplified by introducing them to the domestic market; for this to be possible, the approval system for vaccines should be reformed and epidemiogical studies need to be carried out.
Delivery of Health Care ; Humans ; Korea ; Meningococcal Infections ; Meningococcal Vaccines ; Neisseria meningitidis ; Relief Work ; Vaccination* ; Vaccines

Meningococcal infection is a life threatening disease that leaves serious sequelae in spite of appropriate treatment, thus vaccination for high risk groups are important for the prevention of meningococcal diseases. However, the vaccine for Neisseria meningitidis has not been available in Korea until we introduced bivalent (serogroup A and C) polysaccharide vaccine for the first time for relief works in our university hospital. The vaccine was administered from January 2005 to March 2007 to 317 persons. Of the groups administered, the largest group among them were 133 (133/317, 42%) students who planned to study abroad and needed the vaccination for secure entrance to school dormitories. This group was followed by health care workers, travellers to the regions of the world with high risks of meningococcal diseases, and splenectomised patients. To rationalize the domestic use of meningococcal vaccine, the availability of vaccines first needs to be simplified by introducing them to the domestic market; for this to be possible, the approval system for vaccines should be reformed and epidemiogical studies need to be carried out.
Delivery of Health Care ; Humans ; Korea ; Meningococcal Infections ; Meningococcal Vaccines ; Neisseria meningitidis ; Relief Work ; Vaccination* ; Vaccines

The relief system for adverse drug reactions is a reimbursement system for non-fault injury from drugs that started with the intent of relieving victims of adverse drug reactions despite normal use of the medicines. In Korea, the relief system for adverse drug reactions started on December 19, 2014. To date, the deliberation process for 100 cases of adverse drug reactions has ended, of which 78 cases received relief reimbursement. As this is the early phase of system implementation, efforts to stabilize the system are needed. It is very important for clinicians to participate actively in mediating between the victims of adverse drug reactions and the Korea Institute of Drug Safety & Risk Management, to establish an effective relief system. It is also important to implement the most favorable relief system considering the socioeconomic and medical environment in Korea.
Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions ; Korea ; Negotiating ; Relief Work ; Risk Management

INTRODUCTIONThis study aimed to report the injury or disease patterns, challenges, key observations, and recommendations by the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) team that embarked on an Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) mission in the aftermath of the April 2015 Nepal earthquake.

METHODSThe SAF medical team that provided HADR assistance to Nepal consisted of personnel from the SAF, Singapore¢s Ministry of Health and the Royal Brunei Armed Forces. Upon arrival in Kathmandu, Nepal, the SAF medical team was assigned to the Gokarna district by the local health authorities. In addition to providing primary healthcare, the medical facility was equipped to perform resuscitation and minor procedures. We also assembled mobile medical teams (MMTs) that travelled to various remote areas of the country to deliver medical aid.

RESULTSA total of 3,014 patients were managed by the SAF medical team. Of these patients, 1,286 (42.7%) were men. 574 (19.0%) patients sustained earthquake-related injuries or illnesses, while 2,440 (81.0%) sustained non-earthquake-related injuries or illnesses. The team treated a total of 447 (77.9%) adults and 127 (22.1%) paediatric patients with earthquake-related injuries or illnesses. A significant number of patients developed exacerbations of underlying medical conditions. 2,161 (71.7%) patients were treated in our main facility in Gokarna, while 853 patients (28.3%) were treated by our MMTs.

CONCLUSIONThe ability to transport healthcare personnel and essential medical equipment within a short time allowed the SAF medical team to provide crucial medical care in the aftermath of the 2015 Nepal earthquake.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Brunei ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Disasters ; Earthquakes ; Emergency Medicine ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Military Personnel ; Nepal ; Physical Examination ; Primary Health Care ; Relief Work ; Singapore

On 26 December 2004, a huge tsunami struck the coasts of South Asian countries and it resulted in 29,729 deaths and 16,665 injuries in Sri Lanka. This study characterizes the epidemiology, clinical data and time course of the medical problems seen by a Korean disaster medical assistance team (DMAT) during its deployment in Sri Lanka, from 2 to 8 January 2005. The team consisting of 20 surgical and medical personnel began to provide care 7 days after tsunami in the southern part of Sri Lanka, the Matara and Hambantota districts. During this period, a total of 2,807 patients visited our field clinics with 3,186 chief complaints. Using the triage and refer system, we performed 3,231 clinical examinations and made 3,259 diagnoses. The majority of victims had medical problems (82.4%) rather than injuries (17.6%), and most conditions (92.1%) were mild enough to be discharged after simple management. There were also substantial needs of surgical managements even in the second week following the tsunami. Our study also suggests that effective triage system, self-sufficient preparedness, and close collaboration with local authorities may be the critical points for the foreign DMAT activity.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Asia, Southeastern ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Emergency Medical Services/organization & administration/statistics & numerical data ; Female ; Geography ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; International Cooperation ; Korea ; Male ; *Medical Assistance ; Middle Aged ; *Natural Disasters ; Patients/classification/*statistics & numerical data ; *Relief Work ; Retrospective Studies ; Sri Lanka