22 August 2024: Due to technical disruption, we are experiencing some delays to publication. We are working to restore services and apologise for the inconvenience. For further updates please visit our website: https://www.cambridge.org/universitypress/about-us/news-and-blogs/cambridge-university-press-publishing-update-following-technical-disruption
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
This journal utilises an Online Peer Review Service (OPRS) for submissions. By clicking "Continue" you will be taken to our partner site
https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/pdm.
Please be aware that your Cambridge account is not valid for this OPRS and registration is required. We strongly advise you to read all "Author instructions" in the "Journal information" area prior to submitting.
To save this undefined to your undefined account, please select one or more formats and confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you used this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your undefined account.
Find out more about saving content to .
To save this article to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below.
Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
An incident involving the release of chlorine gas from the pump room at a local swimming pool resulted in 54 patients seeking treatment in the emergency departments (EDs) of two local, tertiary-level hospitals in Singapore. The hospital hazardous materials (HAZMAT) disaster plan was activated. This report describes how one of the EDs organized in response to the disaster.
Event:
Of the 54 people seeking treatment, 36 were treated in the ED at the Singapore General Hospital. The patients were decontaminated at shower facilities prior to entering the ED. The ED was reorganized to cope with existing patients, as well as the large influx of patients from the event site. A protocol was established in coordination with the local drug and poison information center to manage the patients who suffered from chlorine inhalation. Most patients were observed in the ED and subsequently discharged.Outpatient review appointments were scheduled.
Injuries:
Acute respiratory symptoms were the most common symptoms. Four children and four adults were admitted to the hospital, and the other patients were discharged from the ED after observation. All of the chest xrays were normal on the day of the chlorine inhalation. There were no mortalities or significant morbidities, even up to six months after the incident.
Conclusions:
Although this chlorine HAZMAT incident did not cause severe injuries, and only a limited number of persons required admission to the hospital, some valuable lessons were learned.
This paper is a report on an exercise designed to reveal the extent of belief in the common myths about disasters held by members of four groups of students from the University of Massachusetts and three groups of trainee emergency workers from Italy.
Methods:
A questionnaire was administered in which students and trainees were asked to agree or disagree with 19 statements about disasters. These statements were based on common misconceptions about disasters and are at least statements untenable in statistical terms, if not downright wrong. In each case, a Likert scale was used to assess the strength of the students' and trainees' agreement or disagreement with the statements.
Results:
The results suggest that some of the misconceptions (for example, that panic and looting are widespread reactions to disaster) were strongly held, whereas others (for instance, that disasters cannot be managed) were less well-rooted. Despite years of refutation by experts, all groups firmly believed that dead bodies constitute a health hazard if they are not disposed of quickly. Attitudes to the proposition that technology offers a solution to the disaster problem were equivocal.
Conclusions:
Though the results of the study by no means were homogeneous, students and emergency workers, on either side of the Atlantic, bring many of the same misconceptions that the mass media continually propagates. These beliefs represent a serious challenge for the instructor who wants to ensure that disasters and emergencies are not misconstrued.