Prehospital and disaster medicine
-
Prehosp Disaster Med · Jun 2011
Assessment of hospital disaster preparedness for the 2010 FIFA World Cup using an internet-based, long-distance tabletop drill.
The State University of New York at Downstate (SUNY) conducted a web-based long-distance tabletop drill (LDTT) designed to identify vulnerabilities in safety, security, communications, supplies, incident management, and surge capacity for a number of hospitals preceding the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The tabletop drill simulated a stampede and crush-type disaster at the Green Point Stadium in Cape Town, South Africa in anticipation of 2010 FIFA World Cup. The LDTT, entitled "Western Cape-Abilities", was conducted between May and September 2009, and encompassed nine hospitals in the Western Cape of South Africa. The main purpose of this drill was to identify strengths and weaknesses in disaster preparedness among nine state and private hospitals in Cape Town, South Africa. These hospitals were tasked to respond to the ill and injured during the 2010 World Cup. ⋯ This assessment of disaster preparedness indicated an overall good performance in categories such as hospital equipment and development of major incident plans, but improvement is needed in hospital security, public relations, and communications ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
-
Prehosp Disaster Med · Jun 2011
End-tidal CO2 as a predictor of survival in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
The objective of this study was to evaluate initial end-tidal CO2 (EtCO2) as a predictor of survival in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. ⋯ An initial EtCO2 >10 and the absence of a falling EtCO2 >25% from baseline were significantly associated with achieving ROSC in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. These additional variables should be incorporated in termination of resuscitation algorithms in the prehospital setting.
-
In recent years, the number of public health emergencies has increased. Improving hospital emergency management is an important challenge. ⋯ After the occurrence of the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic, Chinese hospital managers took many measures to improve hospital resilience. However, most of these efforts lacked the guidance of theories, concepts, principles, and methods. An integrated, standardized, operational hospital emergency management model has not been established. Although the survey response rate was relatively low, some clues for further study were discovered, and suggestions to the health authority for hospital emergency management improvement were revealed.
-
Prehosp Disaster Med · Jun 2011
Disaster health-related challenges and requirements: a grounded theory study in Iran.
Despite frequent disasters caused by natural hazards, concern has been raised regarding the effectiveness of disaster health services in disaster-prone countries such as Iran. The purpose of this study was to explore, in relation to health disaster management, the experiences and perceptions of individuals who responded or were affected by a recent Iranian earthquake disaster. ⋯ This study supports the value of health service managers coordinating the appropriate use of international aid in advance. It is suggested that this can be done by better communication with local and foreign constituents. Further, this study indicates that public education and proper pre-event planning help to bring about an effective response to providing healthcare services during a disaster.