Prehospital and disaster medicine
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Prehosp Disaster Med · Oct 2000
ReviewControversy and consensus in disaster mental health research.
Controversies regarding the mental health consequences of disasters are rooted both in disciplinary orientations and in the widely varied research strategies that have been employed in disaster mental health studies. However, despite a history of dissensus, there are also key issues on which researchers agree. ⋯ Disaster events differ in the extent to which they generate stress for victims. A holistic perspective on disaster mental health would take into account not only disaster event characteristics, but also social-systemic sources of both acute and chronic stress, secondary and cumulative stressors, and victims internal and external coping capacities.
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Prehosp Disaster Med · Apr 2000
Self-reported cardiac risk factors in emergency department nurses and paramedics.
Our objective was to assess the prevalence of cardiac risk factors in a sample of urban paramedics and emergency department (ED) nurses. ⋯ Forty-eight percent of paramedics and 41% of ED nurses at this center are at high or very high risk for cardiovascular disease, by self-report. Efforts should be made to better educate and intervene in this population of health-care providers in order to reduce their cardiac risk.
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Prehosp Disaster Med · Jan 2000
Review Case ReportsPneumothorax during CPR training: case report and review of the CPR literature.
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation is taught widely to both lay persons and health care workers. It is a challenging psychomotor skill. ⋯ This case is the first reported example of this complication for a CPR trainee or provider. The literature is reviewed for complications for CPR provider and recipient and the relevant issues regarding the current status and future direction of this intervention.
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Hospitals the world over have been involved in disasters, both internal and external. These two types of disasters are independent, but not mutually exclusive. Internal disasters are isolated to the hospital and occur more frequently than do external disasters. External disasters affect the community as well as the hospital. This paper first focuses on common problems encountered during acute-onset disasters, with regards to hospital operations and caring for victims. Specific injury patterns commonly seen during natural disasters are reviewed. Second, lessons learned from these common problems and their application to hospital disaster plans are reviewed. ⋯ Lessons learned from past disaster-related operational failures are compiled and reviewed. The importance and types of disaster planning are reviewed.