Journal of evidence-based medicine
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With the advance of web search and navigation technology, enormous amount of information, non-information, and misinformation may be obtained in milliseconds in response to questions about 'what works' in social sciences. Today, policy makers in non-medical public service arenas are under increasing pressure to make sound decisions based on scientific evidence. Some of these decisions are a matter of legal requirement. ⋯ Furthermore, it is argued that the use of evidence on 'what works' depends on the potential users' awareness, understanding of the evidence, as well as their capacity and willingness to use it. Awareness and understanding depends on the world wide web and its augmentations, while capacity and willingness depends more on incentives to use good evidence and on political and ethical values. Implications for the future development of evidence grading organizations are discussed.
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Emergency response and medical rescue in the worst hit Mianyang areas after the Wenchuan earthquake.
The 12 May 2008 earthquake caused damage to 88% of the health systems in the worst hit areas of Mianyang with 326 casualties and the direct economic loss of RMB 3124 billion. Within 30 minutes of the earthquake, the Mianyang headquarters for earthquake disaster relief and the Mianyang public health headquarters for medical rescue and treatment were organized. Five medical teams were sent to Beichuang County, the worst hit Mianyang area, four hours after the earthquake. ⋯ The emergency command system for medical rescue and disease control and prevention in the Mianyang areas integrated resources, carried out unified command, and responded rapidly. Furthermore, the headquarters of medical relief co-ordinated and united the governmental and nongovernmental organizations, achieving good performance for both medical relief and epidemic control. This experience of earthquake medical relief will benefit post-disaster reconstruction, as well as the establishment of national and regional emergency response systems.