פוסט זה זמין גם ב:
עברית
Disasters have increased in frequency over the past century. A number of high profile disasters have also
dominated news headlines in the past decade raising the media and community awareness, of disasters. This has been across the full spectrum of disasters and as illustrated in Table 1 has included terrorist bombings, hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis and floods. The relevance of mass casualty incidents and disaster management to Emergency Medicine is obvious. Emergency Departments are the ‘front door’ of the hospital component of the health system. The injured or unwell and also often the worried well, will present for care. Emergency Departments (ED) need to be able to respond effectively, which mandates advance planning and preparedness. Most ED already run beyond capacity so the ability to manage an acute influx of patients in a system with potentially damaged infrastructure is a significant challenge requiring fore-thought and an understanding of disasters. Additionally, the broad skill set of Emergency Physicians may see them working in the pre-hospital arena or as part of international disaster response. This requires additional training to maintain the safety of clinicians in often challenging, and hazardous environments. The aim of this chapter is to: – Provide an overview of disaster epidemiology and the definitions and principles of practice; – Outline common problems associated with mass casualty incidents and disaster management; – Describe the potential roles of emergency physicians in mass casualty incidents, international response and pandemics and the specific issues associated with these; – Identify emerging issues in mass casualty incidents and disaster management, future developments and research areas. Disasters have increased in frequency over the past century. A number of high profile disasters have also dominated news headlines in the past decade raising the media and community awareness, of disasters. This has been across the full spectrum of disasters and as illustrated in Table 1 has included terrorist bombings, hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis and floods. The relevance of mass casualty incidents and disaster management to Emergency Medicine is obvious. Emergency Departments are the ‘front door’ of the hospital component of the health system. The injured or unwell and also often the worried well, will present for care. Emergency Departments (ED) need to be able to respond effectively, which mandates advance planning and preparedness. Most ED already run beyond capacity so the ability to manage an acute influx of patients in a system with potentially damaged infrastructure is a significant challenge requiring fore-thought and an understanding of disasters. Additionally, the broad skill set of Emergency Physicians may see them working in the pre-hospital arena or as part of international disaster response. This requires additional training to maintain the safety of clinicians in often challenging, and hazardous environments. The aim of this chapter is to: – Provide an overview of disaster epidemiology and the definitions and principles of practice; – Outline common problems associated with mass casualty incidents and disaster management; – Describe the potential roles of emergency physicians in mass casualty incidents, international response and pandemics and the specific issues associated with these; – Identify emerging issues in mass casualty incidents and disaster management, future developments and research areas.
