Inadequately controlled chronic diseases may present a threat to life and well-being during the emergency response phase of disasters. Chronic disease exacerbations (CDE) account for one of the largest patient populations during disasters, and patients are at increased risk for adverse outcomes.

The objective of this study was to assess the burden of chronic renal failure, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease during disasters due to natural hazards, identify impediments to care, and propose solutions to improve the disaster preparation and management of CDE.

A thorough search of the PubMed, Ovid, and Medline databases was performed. Dr. Miller's personal international experiences treating CDE after disasters due to natural hazards, such as the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, are included.

Chronic disease exacerbations comprise a sizable disease burden during disasters related to natural hazards. Surveys estimate that 25–40% of those living in the regions affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita lived with at least one chronic disease. Chronic illness accounted for 33% of visits, peaking 10 days after hurricane landfall. The international nephrology community has responded to dialysis needs by forming a well-organized and effective organization called the Renal Disaster Relief Task Force (RDRTF). The response to the needs of diabetic and cardiac patients has been less vigorous.

Patients must be familiar with emergency diet and renal fluid restriction plans, possible modification of dialysis schedules and methods, and rescue treatments such as the administration of kayexalate. Facilities may consider investing in water-independent extracorporeal dialysis techniques as a rescue treatment. In addition to patient databases and medical alert identification, diabetics should maintain an emergency medical kit. Diabetic patients must be taught and practice the carbohydrate counting technique. In addition to improved planning, responding agencies and organizations must bring adequate supplies and medications to care for diabetic, cardiac, and renal patients during relief efforts.

By recognizing and addressing impediments to the care of chronic disease exacerbations after natural disasters, the quality, delivery, and effectiveness of the care provided to diabetic patients during relief efforts can be improved.

Mask ventilation is a procedure routinely used in emergency medicine. Potential hazards are inadequate alveolar ventilation and inflation of the stomach with air, leading to subsequent regurgitation and aspiration. The aim of this study was to measure lung function and gastric inflation pressures during mask ventilation.

For this purpose, 31 patients scheduled for routine urological procedures were studied during induction of anesthesia. Lung function was assessed by recording respiratory flow and pressure directly at the face mask. Gastric inflation was observed with a microphone taped to the epigastric area.

Gastric inflation occurred in 22 of the 31 patients. Mean gastric inflation pressure was 27.5 ±6.55 cm H2O, mean compliance was 67 ±24.1 ml/cm H2O, mean resistance was 17.4 ±6.41 cm H2O/L/sec, and the mean respiratory time constant was 1.1 ±0.26 seconds.

These data suggest that inspiratory pressure be limited to 20 cm H2O, and that an inspiratory time of at least four times the respiratory time constant be allowed. Monitoring airway pressure and gastric inflation is a simple technique that may improve the safe-ty of patients during mask ventilation.

It is important that health professionals and support staff are prepared for disasters to safeguard themselves and the community during disasters. There has been a significantly heightened focus on disasters since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 in New York (USA); however, despite this, it is evident that health professionals and support staff may not be adequately prepared for disasters.

An integrative literature review was performed based on a keyword search of the major health databases for primary research evaluating preparedness of health professionals and support staff. The literature was quality appraised using a mixed-methods appraisal tool (MMAT), and a thematic analysis was completed to identify current knowledge and gaps.

The main themes identified were: health professionals and support staff may not be fully prepared for disasters; the most effective content and methods for disaster preparedness is unknown; and the willingness of health professionals and support staff to attend work and perform during disasters needs further evaluation. Gaps were identified to guide further research and the creation of new knowledge to best prepare for disasters. These included the need for: high-quality research to evaluate the best content and methods of disaster preparedness; inclusion of the multi-disciplinary health care team as participants; preparation for internal disasters; the development of validated competencies for preparedness; validated tools for measurement; and the importance of performance in actual disasters to evaluate preparation.

The literature identified that all types of disaster preparedness activities lead to improvements in knowledge, skills, or attitude preparedness for disasters. Most studies focused on external disasters and the preparedness of medical, nursing, public health, or paramedic professionals. There needs to be a greater focus on the whole health care team, including allied health professionals and support staff, for both internal and external disasters. Evaluation during real disasters and the use of validated competencies and tools to deliver and evaluate disaster preparedness will enhance knowledge of best practice preparedness. However, of the 36 research articles included in this review, only five were rated at 100% using the MMAT. Due to methodological weakness of the research reviewed, the findings cannot be generalized, nor can the most effective method be determined.

GowingJR, WalkerKN, ElmerSL, CummingsEA. Disaster Preparedness among Health Professionals and Support Staff: What is Effective? An Integrative Literature Review. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2017;32(3):321–328.

In order to prepare the healthcare system and healthcare personnel to meet the health needs of populations affected by disasters, educational programs have been developed by numerous academic institutions, hospitals, professional organizations, governments, and non-government organizations. Lacking standards for best practices as a foundation, many organizations and institutions have developed “core competencies” that they consider essential knowledge and skills for disaster healthcare personnel.

The Nursing Section of the World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine (WADEM) considered the possibility of endorsing an existing set of competencies that could be used to prepare nurses universally to participate in disaster health activities. This study was undertaken for the purpose of reviewing published disaster health competencies to determine commonalities and universal applicability for disaster preparedness.

In 2007, a review of the electronic literature databases was conducted using the major keywords: disaster response competencies; disaster preparedness competencies; emergency response competencies; disaster planning competencies; emergency planning competencies; public health emergency preparedness competencies; disaster nursing competencies; and disaster nursing education competencies. A manual search of references and selected literature from public and private sources also was conducted. Inclusion criteria included: English language; competencies listed or specifically referred to; competencies relevant to disaster, mass-casualty incident (MCI), or public health emergency; and competencies relevant to healthcare.

Eighty-six articles were identified; 20 articles failed to meet the initial inclusion criteria; 27 articles did not meet the additional criteria, leaving 39 articles for analysis. Twenty-eight articles described competencies targeted to a specific profession/discipline, while 10 articles described competencies targeted to a defined role or function during a disaster. Four of the articles described specific competencies according to skill level, rather than to a specific role or function. One article defined competencies according to specific roles as well as proficiency levels. Two articles categorized disaster nursing competencies according to the phases of the disaster management continuum. Fourteen articles described specified competencies as “core” competencies for various target groups, while one article described “cross-cutting” competencies applicable to all healthcare workers.

Hundreds of competencies for disaster healthcare personnel have been developed and endorsed by governmental and professional organizations and societies. Imprecise and inconsistent terminology and structure are evident throughout the reviewed competency sets. Universal acceptance and application of these competencies are lacking and none have been validated. Further efforts must be directed to developing a framework and standardized terminology for the articulation of competency sets for disaster health professionals that can by accepted and adapted universally.

The diagnosis of endotracheal tube (ETT) mal-position may be delayed in extreme environments. Several methods are utilized to confirm proper ETT placement, but these methods can be unreliable or unavailable in certain settings. Thoracic sonography, previously utilized to detect pneumothoraces, has not been tested to assess ETT placement.

Thoracic sonography could correlate with pulmonary ventilation, and thereby, help to confirm proper ETT placement.

Thirteen patients requiring elective intubation under general anesthesia, and data from two trauma patients were evaluated. Using a portable, hand-held, ultrasound (PHHU) machine, sonographic recordings of the chest wall visceral-parietal pleural interface (VPPI) were recorded bilaterally in each patient during all phases of airway management: (1) preoxygenation; (2) induction; (3) paralysis; (4) intubation; and (5) ventilation. Results: The VPPI could be well-imaged for all of the patients. In the two trauma patients, right mainstem intubations were noted in which specific pleural signals were not seen in the left chest wall VPPI after tube placement. These signs returned after correct repositioning of the ETT tube. In all of the elective surgery patients, signs correlating with bilateral ventilation in each patient were imaged and correlated with confirmation of ETT placement by anesthesiology.

This report raises the possibility that thoracic sonography may be another tool that could be used to confirm proper ETT placement. This technique may have merit in extreme environments, such as in remote, prehospital settings or during aerospace medical transports, in which auscultation is impossible due to noise, or capnography is not available, and thus, requires further scientific evaluation.

In order to prepare for pandemics, it is important to assess the likelihood that hospital personnel would report to work and to identify the issues that may affect this decision.

To survey hospital personnel regarding their attendance at work in the hypothetical event of avian influenza pandemic, and what factors might influence this decision. Methods: A voluntary, confidential, institutional review board-approved survey was offered to a convenience sample of hospital workers regarding their willingness to report to work and what issues would be important in making this decision. Surveys not returned and individuals declining to participate were recorded.

Of 187 surveys offered, 169 were completed (90% response rate): 34% were doctors, 33% were nurses, and 33% were clerical and other associates (other). The average age of the participants was 38 years, and 32% were males. Participants were asked: “In the event of an avian pandemic, and patients were being treated at this hospital, would you report to work as usual?”. Of those who responded to the survey, 50% reported “yes”, 42% reported “maybe”, and 8% reported “no”. Doctors were more likely than nurses or others to respond “yes” (73%), as were males (66%). For the “maybe” responders, the most important factor (83%) was: “How confident I am that the hospital can protect me”. For 19% of the “maybe” responders, financial incentives would not make a difference for them to work, even up to triple pay.

Personnel absenteeism during a pandemic due to fear of contracting an illness may result in a significant personnel shortage. Ensuring worker confidence in adequate personal protection may be more important than financial incentives.

Prehospital care is one of the many issues that require addressing by lower-middle income countries (LMICs) where approximately 90% of global injuries occur. This may arise from more traffic in LMICs, poor road conditions, lack of public awareness of the importance of road safety, and the lack of ability to provide first aid to the victims. However, prehospital care in LMICs remains underdeveloped.

There is insufficient evidence regarding the development of prehospital care among LMICs. Thus, the objective of this study was to investigate the status of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) systems in these countries.

A review of medical-related electronic databases was designed to identify the development of EMS systems in LMICs. A search of the literature was undertaken using three electronic databases, CINAHL, Ovid Medline, and EMBASE via Ovid, from their commencement date until the end of July 2015. The grey literature was searched using Google Scholar. Articles were included if they reported on the establishment and current status of an EMS system and were excluded if they were letters to the editor, articles focusing on disaster management, a combination of more than one country if the other country was not a LMIC, written in a language other than English or Bahasa Indonesia, and/or focusing only on in-hospital care.

There were 337 articles identified in CINAHL, 731 in Ovid Medline, 891 in EMBASE via Ovid, and 41 in Google Scholar. Based on the title and abstract, 31 articles from CINAHL, 40 from Ovid Medline, 43 from EMBASE, and 11 from Google Scholar were retrieved for further review. There were 92 articles that met the inclusion criteria with 35 articles removed, as they were duplicated, leaving 57 articles to be reviewed. From those 48 countries categorized as LMICs, there were 16 (33.3%) countries that had information about an EMS system, including injury types, patient demographic, prehospital transport, and the obstacles in implementing the prehospital care system.

The implementation and development of an EMS system is varied among LMICs. Many LMICs lack an organized EMS system with most ambulances used purely for transport and not as an emergency care vehicle. Financial issues are the most common problems faced by LMICs with support from developed countries a necessity.

Suryanto, PlummerV, BoyleM. EMS Systems in Lower-Middle Income Countries: A Literature Review. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2017;32(1):64–70.

Massive earthquakes often cause structures to collapse, trapping victims under dense rubble for long periods of time. Commonly, this spurs resource intensive, dangerous, and frustrating attempts to find and extricate live victims. The search and rescue phase usually is maintained for many days beyond the last “save,” potentially diverting critical attention and resources away from the pressing needs of non-trapped survivors and the devastated community. This recurring phenomenon is driven by the often-unanswered question “Can anyone still be alive under there?” The maximum survival time in entrapment is an important issue for responders, yet little formal research has been conducted on this issue. Knowing the maximum survival time in entrapment helps responders: (1) decide whether or not they should continue to assign limited resources to search and rescue activities; (2) assess the safety risks versus the benefits; (3) determine when search and rescue activities no longer are indicated; and (4) time and pace the important transition to community recovery efforts.

The time period of 1985–2004 was selected for investigation. Medline and Lexis-Nexis databases were searched for earthquake events that occurred within this timeframe. Medical literature articles providing time-torescue data for victims of earthquakes were identified. Lexis-Nexis reports were scanned to select those with time-to-rescue data for victims of earthquakes. Reports from both databases were examined for information that might contribute to prolonged survival of entrapped individuals.

A total of 34 different earthquake events met study criteria. Fortyeight medical articles containing time-to-rescue data were identified. Of these, the longest time to rescue was “13–19 days” post-event (secondhand data and the author is not specific). The second longest time to rescue in the medical articles was 8.7 days (209 hours). Twenty-five medical articles report multiple rescues that occurred after two days (48 hours). Media reports describe rescues occurring beyond Day 2 in 18 of 34 earthquakes. Of these, the longest reliably reported survival is 14 days after impact, with the next closest having survived 13 days. The average maximum times reported from these 18 earthquakes was 6.8 days (median = 5.75 days). The event with the most media reports of distinct rescue events was the 1999 Marmara, Turkey earthquake (43 victims). Times range from 0.5 days (12 hours) to 6.2 days (146 hours) for this event. Both databases provide little formal data to develop detailed insight into factors affecting survivability during entrapment.

A thorough search of the English-language medical literature and media accounts provides a provocative picture of numerous survivors beyond 48 hours of entrapment under rubble, with a few successfully enduring entrapment of 13–14 days. These data are not necessarily applicable to non-earthquake collapsed-structure events. For incident managers and their medical advisors, the study findings and discussion may be useful for postimpact decision-making and in establishing and/or revising incident priorities as the response evolves.

Heat waves have significant impacts on mortality and morbidity. However, little is known regarding effects on pre-admission health outcomes such as ambulance attendances, particularly in subtropical regions.

This study investigated both main temperature effects and the added effects of heat waves on ambulance attendances in Brisbane, a subtropical city in Australia.

Daily data relating to 783,935 ambulance attendances, along with data on meteorological variables and air pollutants, were collected for the period 2000-2007. Ambient temperature (main) effects were assessed using a distributed lag nonlinear approach that accounted for delayed effects of temperature, while added heat wave effects were incorporated separately using a local heat wave definition. Effect estimates were obtained for total, cardiovascular and respiratory attendances, and different age groups.

Main effects of temperature were found for total attendances, which increased by 50.6% (95% CI, 32.3%-71.4%) for a 9.5°C increase above a reference temperature of 29°C. An added heat wave effect on total attendances was observed (18.8%; 95% CI, 6.5%-32.5%). Significant effects were found for both respiratory and cardiovascular attendances, particularly for those aged 65 and above.

Ambulance attendances can be significantly impacted by sustained periods of high temperatures, and are a valid source of early detection of the effects of extreme temperatures on the population. The planning of ambulance services may need to be adapted as a consequence of increasing numbers of heat waves in the future. Ambulance attendance data also should be utilized in the development of heat warning systems and climate change adaptation strategies.

TurnerLR, ConnellD, TongS. The Effect of Heat Waves on Ambulance Attendances in Brisbane, Australia. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2013;28(5):1-6.

Decisions to send an ambulance with or without lights and siren are made every day. While travel with lights and siren is presumed to have relatively more risk associated with it than travel without, little epidemiologic analysis has been conducted to compare the two modes of travel or to characterize collisions in general.

To characterize ambulance collisions and assess the risk of traveling with lights and siren in an urban 9-1-1 environment.

Retrospective analysis of all consecutive ambulance collisions of the Paramedic Division of the San Francisco Department of Public Health during a 27-month period.

The overall collision rate for lights and siren (LS) travel was higher than that for non-lights and siren travel, although the difference was not statistically significant (45.9 collisions per 100,000 LS patient travels, 95% confidence limits 29.7, 62.1, versus 27.0/100,000 for non-LS travel, 95% confidence limits 18.3, 35.7). However, the rates of resulting injuries displayed a statistically significant difference (22.2 injuries per 100,00 LS patient travel, 95% confidence limits 11.0, 33.5, versus 1.5/100,000 for non-LS travel, 95% confidence limits −0.6, 3.5). While the majority of collisions (60.0%) occurred during patient-related travel, 35.6% occurred while the ambulance was available awaiting assignment, and 4.4% in a hospital parking lot. The majority of collisions were due to inattention, failure of on-coming traffic to yield, or unsafe parking; unsafe speed was an infrequent cause. Most crashes occurred during daylight, in dry weather, and involved another vehicle.

There is some elevated risk for collision and added injury during lights and siren travel compared to travel without LS. The causes for these collisions suggest that interventions designed to improve driver skills and increase citizen awareness of an approaching ambulance could help reduce the number of collisions.

In a populous city like Mumbai, which lacks an organized pre-hospital emergency medical services (EMS) system, there exists an informal network through which victims arrive at the trauma center. This baseline study describes the prehospital care and transportation that currently is available in Mumbai.

A prospective trauma database was created by interviewing 170 randomly selected patients from a total of 454 admitted over a two-month period (July–August 2005) at a Level-I, urban, trauma center.

The injured victim in Mumbai usually is rescued by a good Samaritan passer-by (43.5%) and contrary to popular belief, helped by the police (89.7%). Almost immediately after rescue, the victim begins transport to the hospital. No one waits for the EMS ambulance to arrive, as there is none. A taxi cab is the most popular substitute for the ambulance (39.3%). The trauma patient in India usually is a young man in his late-twenties, from a lower socioeconomic class. He mostly finds himself in a government hospital, as private hospitals are reluctant to provide trauma care to the seriously injured. The injured who do receive prehospital care receive inadequate and inappropriate care due to the high cost of consumables in resuscitation, and in part due to the providers' lack of training in emergency care. Those who were more likely to receive prehospital care suffered from road traffic injuries (odds ratio (OR) = 2.3) and those transported by government ambulances (OR = 10.83), as compared to railway accident victims (OR = 0 .41) and those who came by taxi (OR = 0.54).

Currently, as a result of not having an EMS system, prehospital care is a citizen responsibility using societal networks. It is easy to eliminate this system and shift the responsibility to the state. The moot point is whether the state-funded EMS system will be robust enough in a resource-poor setting in which public hospitals are poorly funded. Considering the high funding cost of EMS systems in developed countries and the insufficient evidence that prehospital field interventions by the EMS actually have improved outcomes, Mumbai must proceed with caution when implementing advanced EMS systems into its congested urban traffic. Similar cities, such as Mexico City and Jakarta, have had limited success with implementing EMS systems. Perhaps reinforcing the existing network of informal providers of taxi drivers and police and with training, funding quick transport with taxes on roads and automobile fuels and regulating the private ambulance providers, could be more cost-effective in a culture in which sharing and helping others is not just desirable, but is necessary for overall economic survival.

Foreign field hospitals (FFHs) may provide care for the injured and substitute for destroyed hospitals in the aftermath of sudden-onset disasters.

In the aftermath of sudden-onset disasters, FFHs have been focused on providing emergency trauma care for the initial 48 hours following the sudden-onset disasters, while they tend to be operational much later. In addition, many have remained operational even later. The aim of this study was to assess the timing, activities, and capacities of the FFHs deployed after four recent sudden-onset disasters, and also to assess their adherence to the essential criteria for FFH deployment of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Secondary information on the sudden-onset disasters in Bam, Iran in 2003, Haiti in 2004, Aceh, Indonesia in 2004, and Kashmir, Pakistan in 2005, including the number of FFHs deployed, their date of arrival, country of origin, length of stay, activities, and costs was retrieved by searching the Internet.Additional information was collected on-site in Iran, Indonesia, and Pakistan through direct observation and key informant interviews.

Basic information was found for 43 FFHs in the four disasters. The first FFH was operational on Day 3 in Bam and Kashmir, and on Day 8 in Aceh. The first FFHs were all from the militaries of neighboring countries. The daily cost of a bed was estimated to be US$2,000. The bed occupancy rate generally was <50%. None of the 43 FFHs met the first WHO/Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) essential requirement if the aim is to provide emergency trauma care, while 15% followed the essential requirement if follow-up trauma and medical care is the aim of deployment.

A striking finding was the lack of detailed information on FFH activities. None of the 43 FFHs arrived early enough to provide emergency medical trauma care. The deployment of FFHs following sudden-onset disasters should be better adapted to the main needs and the context and more oriented toward substituting for pre-existing hospitals, rather than on providing immediate trauma care.

The purpose of this study was to critically review the provision of medical care at mass gatherings as described in 25 years of case reports. Specifically measured was the relationship between the size of a mass gathering and the frequency of patients seeking medical aid and the effects of certain event characteristics on this relationship.

Data were obtained through a retrospective literature review. Medline and CINHAL computerized databases were searched for English language articles using several keywords: “mass gathering”, “concert”, “festival”, “Olympics”, “crowd”, “riot”, “stadium”, “sports”, “games”, “papal”, and “football”. Only articles containing complete information on the number of spectators, number of patients, type, location, and duration of the mass gathering were included in the primary analysis. As available, additional information was added including the described weather patterns, number of patients transported to a hospital, and number of patients suffering a cardiac arrest. Thirty-five of the approximately 100 articles reviewed, met these criteria.

A Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient was calculated for number of spectators and patients and a significant relationship was identified (p = 0.0001). Mann-Whitney U-tests indicated that papal masses (p = 0.04), rock concerts (p = 0.005), hot climatic conditions (p = 0.03) and events held in the British Commonwealth (p = 0.03) had a significantly higher frequency of patient visits. Significantly more cardiac arrests occurred at papal masses (p = 0.04) and sporting events (p = 0.0002).

Type of event, country, weather, and the size of the mass gathering had a significant effect on the numbers of spectators seeking medical care. A uniform classification scheme is necessary for future prospective studies of mass gatherings.

Hospitals the world over have been involved in disasters, both internal and external. These two types of disasters are independent, but not mutually exclusive. Internal disasters are isolated to the hospital and occur more frequently than do external disasters. External disasters affect the community as well as the hospital. This paper first focuses on common problems encountered during acute-onset disasters, with regards to hospital operations and caring for victims. Specific injury patterns commonly seen during natural disasters are reviewed. Second, lessons learned from these common problems and their application to hospital disaster plans are reviewed.

An extensive review of the available literature was conducted using the computerized databases Medline and Healthstar from 1977 through March 1999. Articles were selected if they contained information pertaining to a hospital response to a disaster situation or data on specific disaster injury patterns. Selected articles were read, abstracted, analyzed, and compiled.

Hospitals continually have difficulties and failures in several major areas of operation during a disaster. Common problem areas identified include communication and power failures, water shortage and contamination, physical damage, hazardous material exposure, unorganized evacuations, and resource allocation shortages.

Lessons learned from past disaster-related operational failures are compiled and reviewed. The importance and types of disaster planning are reviewed.

The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) is widely applied in the emergency setting; it is used to guide trauma triage and for the application of essential interventions such as endotracheal intubation. However, inter-rater reliability of GCS scoring has been shown to be low for inexperienced users, especially for the motor component. Concerns regarding the accuracy and validity of GCS scoring between various types of emergency care providers have been expressed.

The objective of this study was to determine the degree of accuracy of GCS scoring between various emergency care providers within a modern Emergency Medical Services (EMS) system.

This was a prospective observational study of the accuracy of GCS scoring using a convenience sample of various types of emergency medical providers using standardized video vignettes. Ten video vignettes using adults were prepared and scored by two board-certified neurologists. Inter-rater reliability was excellent (Cohen's κ = 1). Subjects viewed the video and then scored each scenario. The scoring of subjects was compared to expert scoring of the two board-certified neurologists.

A total of 217 emergency providers watched 10 video vignettes and provided 2,084 observations of GCS scoring. Overall total GCS scoring accuracy was 33.1% (95% CI, 30.2-36.0). The highest accuracy was observed on the verbal component of the GCS (69.2%; 95% CI, 67.8-70.4). The eye-opening component was the second most accurate (61.2%; 95% CI, 59.5-62.9). The least accurate component was the motor component (59.8%; 95% CI, 58.1-61.5). A small number of subjects (9.2%) assigned GCS scores that do not exist in the GCS scoring system.

Glasgow Coma Scale scoring should not be considered accurate. A more simplified scoring system should be developed and validated.

BledsoeBE, CaseyMJ, FeldmanJ, JohnsonL, DielS, ForredW, GormanC. Glasgow Coma Scale Scoring is Often Inaccurate. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2015;30(1):1-8.