Prehospital and disaster medicine
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Prehosp Disaster Med · Oct 2013
Comparative StudyHospital disaster preparedness as measured by functional capacity: a comparison between Iran and Sweden.
Hospitals are expected to continue to provide medical care during disasters. However, they often fail to function under these circumstances. Vulnerability to disasters has been shown to be related to the socioeconomic level of a country. This study compares hospital preparedness, as measured by functional capacity, between Iran and Sweden. ⋯ The results suggest that the level of hospital preparedness, as measured by functional capacity, is related to the socioeconomic level of the country. The challenge is therefore to enhance hospital preparedness in countries with a weaker economy, since all hospitals need to be prepared for a disaster. There is also room for improvement in more affluent countries.
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Prehosp Disaster Med · Oct 2013
Case ReportsDrowning, hypothermia and cardiac arrest: an 18-year-old woman with an automated external defibrillator recording.
This report describes the case of an 18-year-old woman who was found in the sea suffering from cardiac arrest and hypothermia, 90 minutes after she entered the water to swim. The rescue team used an automated external defibrillator to record prehospital management. This recording showed an isoelectric electrocardiogram followed by a ventricular fibrillation, an unsuccessful defibrillation, and lastly, a return of spontaneous circulation with Osborn wave. ⋯ Second, the hypothermia is an atypical case occurring in the summer. Hypothermia must be considered even in unlikely circumstances, such as summer in the south of France, when ambient temperatures are high. Lastly, after three days, the patient recovered successfully from cardiopulmonary arrest without cerebral dysfunction.
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Social networks play an important role in disaster situations as they have become a new form of social convergence that provides collective information. The effect of social media on people who experienced disaster should be assessed. Hypothesis In this study, Twitter communication during the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011 was assessed. The hypothesis of this study was that usage of Twitter had psychological effects on victims of the disaster. ⋯ Twitter users with disaster experience had a higher usage of Twitter than those without disaster experience. Social media might have had a material psychological influence on people who experienced disaster, and the effect differed by gender. Regardless of gender, negative feelings were transmitted easily among people who experienced the disaster. It was anticipated that the application of Twitter in a disaster situation will be expanded further by taking these findings into consideration.
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Prehosp Disaster Med · Oct 2013
Randomized Controlled TrialLong backboard versus vacuum mattress splint to immobilize whole spine in trauma victims in the field: a randomized clinical trial.
Patients with possible spinal injury must be immobilized properly during transport to medical facilities. The aim of this research was comparing spinal immobilization using a long backboard (LBB) with using a vacuum mattress splint (VMS) in trauma victims transported by an Emergency Medical Services (EMS) system. ⋯ The results of this study showed that immobilization using LBB was easier, faster, and more comfortable for the patient, and provided additional decrease in spinal movement when compared with a VMS.
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The building of prehospital emergency medical care systems in developing and lower middle-income countries (as defined by the World Bank) is a critical step in those countries' efforts to reduce unnecessary morbidity and mortality. This case report presents the development of a prehospital care system in Jaffna District, Sri Lanka and provides the results of the system's first year of operations, the likely reasons for the results, and the prospects for sustained operations of the system. The goal of this report is to add to the literature surrounding Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in developing countries by providing insight into the implementation of a prehospital emergency care system in developing and lower middle-income settings. ⋯ The implementation of a prehospital EMS system and its functioning were successful in terms of utility and, in many regards, financial stability. The system's success in development may serve as a potential model for implementing prehospital emergency medical care in other developing and lower middle-income country settings, keeping in mind factors outside of the system that were integral to its developmental success.