Prehospital and disaster medicine
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Prehosp Disaster Med · Oct 2012
ReviewIntraosseous access in the prehospital setting: literature review.
Although the majority of Australian intensive care paramedics use the manual intraosseous infusion technique (MAN-IO), several other semiautomatic devices now are available, such as the bone injection gun (BIG) and the semiautomatic intraosseous infusion system (EZ-IO). Given the choice of devices now available, questions have been raised regarding success rates, accuracy, decay of skills, and adverse events. ⋯ While manual IO techniques currently are used by the majority of Australian paramedics, the currently available evidence suggests that semiautomatic devices are more effective. Further research, including cost-benefit analyses, is required at a national level to examine skill acquisition, adverse effects, and whether comparative devices offer clinically significant advantages.
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Prehosp Disaster Med · Oct 2012
A redundant resource: a pre-planned casualty clearing station for a FIFA 2010 Stadium in Durban.
This report details the background, planning, and establishment of a mass-casualty management area for the Durban Moses Mabhida Stadium at the Natal Mounted Rifles base, by the Department of Health and the eThekwini Fire and Rescue Service, for the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) 2010 Soccer World Cup. The report discusses the use of the site during the seven matches played at that stadium, and details the aspects of mass-gathering major incident site planning for football (soccer). ⋯ A site-specific patient presentation rate of 0.48 per 10,000 and transport-to-hospital rate (TTHR) of 0.09/10,000 are reported. Lessons learned and implications for future event planning are discussed in the light of the existing literature.
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Prehosp Disaster Med · Oct 2012
ReviewThe effect of the AED and AED programs on survival of individuals, groups and populations.
The automated external defibrillator (AED) is a tool that contributes to survival with mixed outcomes. This review assesses the effectiveness of the AED, consistencies and variations among studies, and how varying outcomes can be resolved. ⋯ The AED can affect survival among patients with sudden ventricular fibrillation (VF). Components of AED programs that affect outcome include the operator, location, the emergency response system, ongoing maintenance and evaluation. Comparing outcomes is complicated by variations in definitions of populations and variables. The effect of AEDs on individuals can be dramatic, but the effect on populations is limited.
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Prehosp Disaster Med · Oct 2012
ReviewThe clinical application of mobile technology to disaster medicine.
Mobile health care technology (mHealth) has the potential to improve communication and clinical information management in disasters. This study reviews the literature on health care and computing published in the past five years to determine the types and efficacy of mobile applications available to disaster medicine, along with lessons learned. Five types of applications are identified: (1) disaster scene management; (2) remote monitoring of casualties; (3) medical image transmission (teleradiology); (4) decision support applications; and (5) field hospital information technology (IT) systems. ⋯ Deployments of teleradiology and field hospital IT systems to disaster zones suggest that mHealth can improve resource allocation and patient care. The key problems include suitability of equipment for use in disaster zones and providing sufficient training to ensure staff familiarity with complex equipment. Future research should focus on providing unbiased observations of the use of mHealth in disaster medicine.
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Prehosp Disaster Med · Oct 2012
Comparative StudyDifferences in medical care usage between two mass-gathering sporting events.
Event planning for mass gatherings involves the utilization of methods that prospectively can predict medical resource use. However, there is growing recognition that historical data for a specific event can help to accurately forecast medical requirements. This study was designed to investigate the differences in medical usage rates between two popular mass-gathering sports events in the UK: rugby matches and horse races. ⋯ These two major sporting venues had similar attendance requirements for medical treatment that are comparable to other mass-gathering sports events. High levels of staff and pediatric presentations may have an impact on human resource planning for events on a larger scale, and the separation of treatment areas may help to minimize the number of unnecessary or opportunistic reviews by the on-site health care professionals.