Prehospital and disaster medicine
-
Prehosp Disaster Med · Apr 2002
Resuscitation for patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: Singapore.
To evaluate characteristics and outcome of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients presenting to the Emergency Department (ED), and to examine factors that could be used to determine to prolong or abort resuscitation for these patients. ⋯ The survival rate for patients with OHCA after ED resuscitation is similar to the results from other studies. There is a need to increase the awareness and delivery of basic life support by public education. Automatic External Defibrillators (AED) should be available widely to ensure that the chance of early defibrillation is increased. Prolonged resuscitation efforts appear to be futile for OHCA patients if the time from cardiac arrest until arrival in the ED is > or = 30 minutes coupled with no ROSC, and if continuous asystole has been documented for > 10 minutes.
-
Prehosp Disaster Med · Jan 2002
Evaluation of a semi-quantitative CO2 monitor with pulse oximetry for prehospital endotracheal tube placement and management.
To evaluate three prototype versions of semi-quantitative end-tidal CO2 monitors with different alarm features during prehospital or interfacility use. ⋯ "Breath beeps" were clearly audible and were a useful feature in all prehospital and transport environments, while audible alarms were desired only in the AirEvac situation. Semi-quantitative CO2 detection is valuable in the ALS/AirEvac environment, even for teams with high intubation success rates.
-
Prehosp Disaster Med · Jan 2002
Emergency medical assistance team response following Taiwan Chi-Chi earthquake.
On 21 September, 1999, an earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale, struck central Taiwan near the town of Chi-Chi. The event resulted in 2,405 deaths and 11,306 injuries. Ad hoc emergency medical assistance teams (EMATs) from Taiwan assumed the responsibility for initiating early assessments and providing medical care. ⋯ 1. The response from EMATs was impressive, but largely uncoordinated in the absence of a pre-existing dispatching mechanism. 2. Most of the EMATs required > 24 hours to reach the disaster sites, and generally, did not arrive in time of affect the outcome of victims with preventable deaths. Therefore, there is an urgent need to strengthen local prehospital care. 3. A central governmental body that ensures better horizontal and vertical integration, and a comprehensive emergency management system is required in order to improve future disaster response and mitigation efforts.
-
This study explores the value of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) experience for students applying to medical school. ⋯ EMS experience receives at least some consideration during the admissions process at most of the responding institutions in the United States and Canada. Experiences at either the EMT or Paramedic level are viewed similarly. None of the responding institutions viewed EMS experience negatively.