Disaster management is essentially a multi-sectoral and multidisciplinary endeavor. The status of disaster preparedness, coordination among different sectors and its impact on disaster management performance were studied and compared in two flood prone comparable districts viz. Midnapore and Murshidabad of West Bengal. The perception of state level officers about important ...

The development of disaster medicine as a science is dependent on clear definitions of its language. This article proposes a set of definitions to supplement those currently accepted.

The medical aspects of disaster management, also referred to as disaster medicine, is a relatively new medical specialty, the roots of which are to be found in war surgery and traumatology. The main content of disaster medicine is based on empiricism. During the past couple of years, a mathematical approach ...

Disaster management utilizes diverse technologies to accomplish a complex set of tasks. Despite a decade of experience, few published reports have reviewed application of telemedicine (clinical care at a distance enabled by telecommunication) in disaster situations. Appropriate new telemedicine applications can improve future disaster medicine outcomes, based on lessons learned ...

Kamedo is a Swedish Disaster Medicine study organization that sends observers to disaster areas anywhere in the world to study recent events, collect useful information, and identify problems relative to the practice of Disaster Medicine. The results of these investigations are published in the KAMEDO Reports, and the English versions ...

A KAP study was done in the area of Disaster Management in urban slums of Pune City. The Youth Organisations' members and the members of Mahila Mandals were the study subjects. It was found that there was marked improvement in the knowledge and attitudes of these subjects towards disasters. It ...

This paper identifies the main trends in approaches to disaster management in the Caribbean at both regional and national levels over the past 20 years. It highlights the main reasons why and how the region has moved from an ad hoc response to an organised approach. Finally, it suggests way ...

A 70-year-old women presented with hoarseness, foul sputum, and a softneck mass. Clinical and radiographic examination disclosed findings consistent with a combined internal and external laryngopyocele. Antibiotics, throat irrigations, and warm packs applied to the neck resulted in full resolution of the neck mass and subtotal regression of the supraglottic ...

There is a huge need for access to information in the areas of disaster relief, disaster medicine, and humanitarian assistance. The extraordinarily rapid increase in the literature in these subject areas attests to this need. However, use of the printed word has substantial limitations that are even more profound in ...

The discussion herein concerns important factors in the local management of disasters. We contrast this with the related but distinct process of disaster planning. Our assumption is that what is crucial is not management per se, but good management. Thus, to assess intelligently the management of community disasters requires an ...

We discuss disaster preparedness and emergency response to large-scale disasters. Our particular focus is disaster management and protection of disaster response personnel in situations involving chemicals and radiation. We describe a unit system that protects rescuers working in the epicenter of a disaster, and we examine effective protective clothing and ...

With the end of the Cold War, renewed emphasis has been placed on humanitarian assistance such as disaster relief, refugee management, and humanitarian intervention during conflicts by the military forces of all nations. The role of the military in humanitarian assistance has been the subject of much recent debate, as ...

There are many similarities and differences between operational and disaster medicine. Over the past several years, there have been increasing requirements for the use of military and tactical law enforcement operational medicine in disaster, humanitarian assistance, and terrorist settings. Many of the TEMS techniques have a direct application to disaster ...

This article discusses the management of clinical problems encountered particularly in disasters. These include the principles of multiple-casualty triage, and field and hospital management of blast injury, crush syndrome, compartment syndrome, particulate inhalation, and traumatic asphyxiation. The indications for extraordinary measures, such as field amputation, are detailed. A brief review ...

This paper describes government intervention in two flood disasters in Lae before and after the establishment of the Papua New Guinea disaster management body. It first describes the objectives behind the establishment of this, and second, it examines the organisational response to the 1983 and 1992 disasters in Lae. Disaster ...

Emergency services for disaster-affected populations require the application of out-of-hospital planning, curative acute medical skills, and public health principles. SAEM can play an important role in promoting the research and educational agendas for disaster medicine through its network of EM educators at academic health centers. Testing of disaster medicine principles ...

Buzz words have become commonplace in the new NHS and they provide a rich source of interest as to their real meaning. One of those frequently heard in this brave new world is that of Skill Mix. It is interesting to consider what it is intended to mean and what ...

Managing during restructuring is a little like managing during a tidal wave or an earthquake. The environment is turbulent, unpredictable, often personally threatening, and laden with long term consequences. As in a natural disaster, you must plan ahead, keep the short term in focus, and the long term in perspective.

Disaster medicine, which is based primarily on military and emergency medicine, is a young branch on the old tree of medicine. It touches on various disciplines within and outside the medical field. The subject is being taught on the academic and postacademic levels at many universities throughout Europe. The first ...

1. The radioaerosol 99mTc-DTPA produced by jet and ultrasonic nebulizers was characterized by measuring the median mass diameter (MMD) and geometric standard deviation (sigma g) and these characteristics were interpreted in terms of the aerodynamic principles of inertial impactation. 2. Jet nebulizers of the same model, with different outflows (NSA ...

Video-thoracoscopy was used to diagnose and successfully treat a bronchogenic cyst in a patient who presented with a chronic cough and a right hilar mass.

In the past decade, interest in the operational and epidemiologic aspects of disaster medicine has grown dramatically. State, local, and federal organizations have created vast emergency response networks capable of responding to disasters, while hospitals have developed extensive disaster plans to address mass casualty situations. Increasingly, the US armed forces ...

Three stories--death, disaster, demineralisation--a typical mixture in our daily lives. In the musical world, theme and variation require the musician to choose a piece of music and write in and around it. Thus, for example, the well known Rachmaninov's Variations on a theme by Paganini. In the general practice would ...

An appendiceal mass is the end result of a walled-off appendiceal perforation and represents a pathological spectrum ranging from phlegmon to abscess. Over the past decade, improved imaging and interventional radiological techniques have allowed a more accurate definition of pathology and thus a more specific and less invasive management than ...

This is what has happened and is happening. For those offended along the way, I apologize--but try us now. Prehospital and Disaster Medicine no longer is an experiment to see if a Journal of this ilk can be a success. It is. The experiment is over. Prehospital and Disaster Medicine ...

The unprecedented series of damaging events experienced by Britain since the early 1980s has focussed attention on the country's arrangements for disaster prevention, planning and management. Until very recently the focus had been on planning for wartime emergencies, with events of the kind responsible for the current anxiety receiving much ...

No one should ever have to encounter a disaster of the magnitude of Avianca flight 052, Hurricane Hugo, or the San Francisco earthquake of 1989. However, we all learn about the appropriate preparation and response that is necessary for managing a disaster effectively after these events. The importance of material ...

In disaster medicine, a meaningful definition of the word disaster is lacking. A simple definition, using only two criteria, is proposed. Added to this, a classification scheme is formulated. Based on this definition and classification, a disaster severity scale is introduced. The methodology used is described, and the significance of ...

This paper discusses the problems of handling major burns in disasters with particular reference to the disaster that occurred in Bradford. Several major features of the Bradford fire, in which 56 people died, made its management much simpler than might be expected in subsequent burns disasters; these are discussed. Lessons ...

This paper seeks to examine the genesis of ecological upheavals which are reflecting the smouldering ecological crisis in the world. The natural as well as man-made mass disasters have more propensity to affect the developing countries of the Third World. The data presented in tabular form in the paper reveals ...

The assessment of disaster preparedness of certain areas is to a large extent liable to subjectivity. For a modern society, however, objectivity is a prerequisite. A methodology is presented calculating the disaster preparednes of municipalities, counties, provinces, states, or even countries. Standardization of this methodology could allow comparison of disaster ...

The 14-membered cyclopeptide alkaloid mauritine-C and the 13-membered cyclopeptide alkaloid sativanine-C were isolated from Zizyphus spinea-christi and Zizyphus sativa commonly used in the Saudi Folklor medicine. The N-formyl derivatives of these compounds were prepared and their corresponding spectral data was analyzed. Fundamental differences were observed in the mass spectrometric fragmentation ...

Although general surgeons receive little training in the management of gynecologic conditions, they should be able to make intraoperative decisions about unexpected gynecologic abnormalities encountered during abdominal exploration. This report examines the six most common gynecologic problems found during abdominal exploration (salpingitis, tubo-ovarian abscess, ectopic gestation, endometriosis, uterine mass, and ...

Because of the potential impact on so many of our patients of post-menopausal osteoporosis, and the staggering costs the disease imposes on our health-care system, it behooves all family doctors to maintain an up-to-date approach to its management, including prevention as well as treatment. In a brief review of some ...

This translation of Haramekhala - tantra of the author is based on Banaras Hindu University manuscript which seems to be a novel one. The manuscript runs into 133 stanzas in all in the form of dialogue between lord Siva and goddess Parvati. This is only the first chapter (of the ...

In the prehospital phase of disaster management the concept of triage is confused, complicated and too often unrealistic. It is proposed that where triage or sorting is necessary it should be based on the observation of vital signs and not on injuries or suspected injuries. It is hoped that such ...

The 1983 bushfires in Victoria and South Australia highlighted the need for discussion of the management of burns injuries in a disaster. The prospect of being faced suddenly with 100 or more burnt patients is a nightmare but it has happened in other parts of the world; the importance of ...

Thirty psychotherapies with survivors of a devastating supper club fire were studied. Treatments were judged in terms of level of completeness, traumatic symptomatology, therapist experience, and therapist sensitivity to the particular disaster influenced level of completion. Nodal points, such as engagement, dosage of affect, and management of transference are described, ...

A three-year survey of all casualties treated by the general practitioners in a holiday resort in the Highlands of Scotland showed that 2,805 (67 per cent) out of a total of 4,194 accidents involved either temporary residents or patients receiving emergency treatment. Over a quarter of the injuries were the ...

During its 27 years of existence, Israel has experienced four wars and dozens of mass casualty situations from various causes. This experience has led to the development of a plan for the management of mass casualties. This plan was put to the test in the October War of 1973 and ...

The antidiuretic effect of two chemically related drugs, clofibrate and halofenate, was tested in a patient with pitressin-sensitive diabetes insipidus. The conventional daily dosage of 2 g clofibrate failed to control the symptoms of this patient; in order to obtain an adequate response the dosage had to be increased to ...

The World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine (WADEM) was established in 1976 by researchers, teachers, and practitioners in acute care medicine to improve the worldwide delivery of pre-hospital and emergency care during everyday and mass disaster emergencies. Membership is open to physicians, nurses, paramedics and other health care professionals. ...

The European experience of acute forest damage is primarily storm damage and fire. Coping with the effects of such catastrophic events requires an understanding of the problems and contingency planning. This manual from the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) covers disaster management planning, damage survey and reporting, safe and ...