Objective? To investigate the dysfunction information of children suffering from Wenchuan earthquake and analyze their rehabilitation requirements. Methods A survey of rehabil itation requirements of 87 children with earthquake injuries was performed using self-made questionnaires. Results Among the 87 children investigated, 64.4% suffered from restricted joint range of motion, 95.4% had abnormal sensory (pain occupying 89.7%). Conclusion The earl ier the patients received the rehabilitation therapy, the better for them to recover functions, improve activity ability in daily life and promote participation ability.
After the May 12th Wenchuan earthquake, the Department of Architecture and Operation of West China Hospital took prompt action to examine the damage of the hospital buildings. And then experts were invited to perform a safety evaluation of all the hospital buildings. Meanwhile, a real-time monitoring system was initiated to identify any subsequent damage caused by after-shocks. In timely response to the clinical demand, potential dangers were removed so as to ensure the medical rescue work for the wounded.
Objective To summarize the experience of medical rescue conducted in Aba prefecture after the Wenchuan earthquake in order to provide information for similar tasks in seismo-active regions. Methods We participated and witnessed the whole process of medical rescue through 100 days after the quake. Data regarding the medical rescue work, work mode, performance and problems were collected and analyzed. Results Twelve counties out of the 13 counties in Aba prefecture were affected by the earthquake, including 2 most-hit counties and 5 most-hit areas. A total of 20 233 people died and 7 873 disappeared. Aba Prefectural Headquarters for Earthquake Resistance and Disaster Relief was set up and medical rescue teams were dispatched to the disaster area immediately after the quake: ① From May 12 to May 15 2008, 20 local medical teams comprising 138 healthcare professionals and 14 teams involving 428 professionals from other regions arrived at the most-hit areas. Through 7 days after the quake, medical treatment was provided for 6 285 patient-times. ② A total of 1 444 healthcare professionals participated in the medical rescue work. Through August 20, 355 579 outpatients and 7 028 inpatients were treated in the prefectural medical institutions and on-site medical centers. Of those, 6 726 were discharged, 604 were severely wounded, 20 died and 456 were transferred to other regions for further treatment. 2 703 operations were performed for the wounded and psychological treatment was provided for 4 630 person-times. Conclusion The medical rescue work in Aba prefecture after the Wenchuan earthquake was effective and efficient. Management of human resources and medical devices should be strengthened to enhance the ability of emergency response.
Objective To compare the medical emergency rescue systems used during earthquakes in America, Japan, Russia and China; so as to provide reference material for the establishment and improvement of such a system in China. Methods We searched the official websites of China, America, Japan and Russia, WHO.int, CNKI, OVID, The Cochrane Library and other authoritative sources to collect information involving the medical emergency rescue systems used during earthquakes. The mechanism, legal management, preventive measures and performance of each country’s medical emergency rescue system were summarized and compared. Results Crisis management, integrated action and legal support were highly emphasized in America, Japan and Russia. America and Japan have performed well in implementing routine preventive measures. The organizational structure of the medical emergency rescue system in China was similar to that of the other countries, but its performance was not satisfactory due to insufficient financial support, poor management, inefficient operational mechanism and poor preventive measures. Conclusion There is an urgent need for China to reinforce its medical emergency rescue system. Different models should be taken into account because of the different regional situations in China.
Objective To provide a disaster triage method by analyzing the data of the hospital transferring casualties after Wenchuan earthquake. Method The data of the patients’ admission and hospital transferring in the West China Hospital were collected after the earthquake in two weeks. Moreover, the reason and the method of the hospital transferring were analyzed. Result In the first two weeks since the earthquake struck Wenchuan, the number of the available bed for earthquake patients in West China Hospital was 124 per day, but in the 2 227 earthquake patients treated, 1 181 patients were admitted. Comparing with the number of the total hospitalized, the percentage is 53.03%. The hospital was overloaded. After a reasonable hospital transference, the daily number of inpatients was stable and all the patients were treated sufficiently. Conclusion After a natural disaster, an effective administration transferring patients to suitable medical recourse should be performed, so that more right treatments should be given to more right patients in the right time and right place.
Objective To analyze retrospectively the overall situation of medical rescue in the Third People’s Hospital of Chengdu after the Wenchuan earthquake, so as to provide references for the emergency preparedness for the disaster of earthquake. Methods The analysis was based on the data provided by the Department of Information, the Medical Record Library, the Department of Emergency, the Department of Orthopaedics and other related departments of the Hospital up to 8 a.m. of July 12. The software of Microsoft EXCEL was used for data input, and SPSS 11.5 was used for statistical analysis. Results Up to July 12, 563 cases from the disaster area had been treated in the hospital, of whom 249 were admitted into the outpatient department and 314 into the inpatient department, including 287 men and 276 women, with a median age of 42 years (28, 57) in the outpatient department and a median age of 46 years (33, 65) in the inpatient department. The inpatients’ age was older than the outpatients’s (P=0.003). Most outpatients were sent to the hospital within the first 3 days after the quake (73.50%), while less than half of the inpatients were sent to the hospital during this period of time. The wounded were mainly from Dujiangyan, Aba Prefecture and Pengzhou, which was correlated with the transportation distance, the casualty and the condition of the local hospitals. The wounded were mainly admitted into the Departments of Orthopaedics (69.3%), Neurosurgery (15.6%) and General Surgery (3.7%). The total cost in the Department of Orthopaedics was the highest, followed by the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and the Department of Neurosurgery. However, the median cost in the ICU was the highest, followed by the Department of Neurosurgery and the Department of Nephrology. Only 9 out of the 563 patients died, including 5 outpatients and 4 inpatients, of whom 8 deaths were due to craniocerebral injury and 1 died of crush syndrome. Conclusion Based on the data, it is of vital importance to develop an emergent plan for the medical rescue after an earthquake disaster, and to strengthen the reserve of medical supplies, personnel training, scientific field triage as well as the construction of information platforms.
ObjectiveTo analyze the cases of surgical wounded characteristics after Lushan county 7.0 earthquake for government departments to formulate relevant policies to provide references for future decision-making. MethodsThe data of surgical wounded were collected from various hospitals in Sichuan province. Origin, operation time and the injured area were counted according to gender and operation time was counted according to origin. In the descriptive statistics the frequencies and proportions were used to describe categorical data and x±SD was used to describe quantitative data. SPSS 13.0 software was used to analyze the data. ResultsA total of 975 cases of surgical wounded included 586 cases of male (accounting for 60.10%) and 389 cases of female (accounting for 39.90%). The average age of the surgical wounded was 40.42±20.06 years. Ya'an city had completed the largest number of surgical cases. Medical institutions completed 53.85 percent of the surgery in the first three days, 41.03 percent of the surgery from four days to seven days after the earthquake. They completed 94.88 percent of surgery in one week after the earthquake. Ya'an city was the largest city in the number of surgical cases within 3 days after the earthquake. Medical institutions directly under the province and the Ministry of Health medical institutions in Sichuan were the largest medical institutions in number of surgical cases from four days to seven days after the earthquake. The largest number of cases was wounded ankle and foot injuries, followed by the abdomen, lower back, lumbar spine and pelvis injuries, once again the knee and calf injuries, and finally the head injury. ConclusionIn the face of natural disasters like earthquakes, the health care system should establish a reasonable and effective medical emergency response mechanisms and plans, and establish a scientific and rational triage mechanism. Multi-disciplines such as orthopedics and surgery should be ready ahead of first aid equipment and emergency medicine, so as to rationalize the allocation of medical resources, achieve maximum utilization of medical resources, reduce morbidity and mortality, and save surgical treatment time for more wounded.
Objective To analyze data for 1950 injured patients in the People’s Hospital of Deyang City following the Wenchuan earthquake, to provide relavent evidence to inform future decision-making in relation to establishing and improving frontline hospitals in disaster areas. Methods The basic situation of the wounded inpatients and the total situation of medical rescue were analyzed with data provided by the Department of Information at the hospital from May 12th to July 12th 2008. Microsoft EXCEL was used for data input and SPSS 11.0 was used for statistical analysis. Results By July 12th, a total of 1950 injured patients and 1378 inpatients had been treated in the hospital. Most inpatients were treated during the first week after the earthquake (about 65.6%), with the number of the inpatients reaching a peak of 703 on the first day, May 12th. The majority of the wounded inpatients were from the Mianzhu, Shifang and Jingyang districts of Deyang city. The diagnosis on admission included fracture (45.9%), craniocerebral injury (20.9%) and thoracoabdominal injury (14.7%). There were 48 deaths including 30 pre-hospital deaths, 10 emergency deaths and 8 inpatient deaths. There were 441 patients who were transported and transferred to the 2nd and 3rd hospitals from the People’s Hospital of Deyang City, which was the first hospital to organize the large-scale transporting of patients in the whole province. There were 1378 inpatients from the disaster area and 726 healthcare workers were sent to the disaster area to provide medical rescue. Psychological treatment was provided to more than 5000 inpatients, inhabitants, healthcare workers and army members. Conclusion The People’s Hospital of Deyang City successfully has accomplished a difficult task as the hospital nearest to the disaster area and played an important role during emergency medical rescue.
Objective To explore the traumatic situation and transfer methods of the in-patients injured in Lushan Earthquake, and to provide evidence for treating injured mass in future. Methods The information of the patients injured in Lushan Earthquake who were admitted in Chengdu Military General Hospital were collected by “No. 1 Military Medical Project” hospital information system and a self-edited “Questionnaire for Hospitalized Patients Injured in 4.20 Lushan Earthquake”. Results A total of 65 patients were admitted in this hospital: 63 (96.92%) patients were injured in the main shock; 28 (43.08%) patients were injured by building collapse; 23 (35.38%) patients got injured due to falls or got bruised when escaping; and 14 (21.54%) patients were accidentally injured. Rescue methods: 32 (49.23%) patients were saved by themselves; 23 (35.38%) patients were mutually helped; 10 (15.38%) patients were rescued by local non-military rescue team; 34 (52.31%) patients were rescued by military rescue teams; and 26 (44.83%) patients were transferred by air transport. Conclusion In order to cope with emergencies and major disasters (e.g. earthquake) and to treat injured mass scientifically in the future, we should set up emergency wards scientifically and reasonably, carry out education on earthquake prevention and disaster mitigation widely, reinforce self-care and mutual aid in the stricken area, quickly send rescue and medical teams, and organize training for air transportation of patients.