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Mass-casualty incidents involving radiation are rare but potentially devastating events. Even incidents with a small number of casualties are challenging due to the specific nature of the information and decisions required, and the rate of decay of knowledge about radiation. A package of specific forms and guidelines could assist emergency department (ED) physicians with this process.
Methods:
A seven-page tool was developed as part of a project (METER 2008) funded by the Canadian Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Research and Training Initiative (CRTI) to facilitate the ED management of radiation casualties. These forms cover triage, the history and physical examination, diagrams to mark areas of contamination, standing orders, and a means of estimating Acute Radiation Syndrome severity. The tool was piloted at a workshop in Quebec City in November 2007. Later, a questionnaire was distributed to participants to assess the usefulness. The tool will be further tested at other workshops across Canada during the winter.
Results:
Participants found the tool to be useful, Their comments and improvements will be presented.
Conclusions:
The tool demonstrated in this presentation can be used to assist ED staff with the triage and management of casualties with exposure to radiation.
On 15 August 2007, a 7.0 Richter magnitude earthquake struck the southern coast of Peru. Economic resources were invested to help the healthcare facilities affected by the earthquake recover, and to control public health problems in the regions of Huancavelica, lea, and Lima.
Methods:
The estimation of the economic impact was based on the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean's methodology on the socioeconomic and environmental impact assessment of disasters. Reports and information about the actions taken by public and non-public health organizations during the response and recovery phases. This information was used to calculate the effect on goods and economic flows in the health sector.
Results:
The economic impact of the earthquake reached 139.1 million dollars, of which, 95% was related to damages to healthcare facilities, and 5% was due to losses.
Conclusions:
A national safe hospital strategy is needed in order to reduce the monetary investments spent on the recovery of damaged healthcare facilities, as well as to assure that the affected population continues to receive medical attention during the emergency phase.