This article introduces the emergent measures and approaches that West China Hospital has taken to ensure the supply of water, electricity, gas and oxygen during the May 12th Wenchuan earthquake.
Earthquakes happened frequently and caused a lot of injuries and serious economic loss, which destroyed the ecological environment and challenged the ability and speed in human rescue, treatment, epidemic, and post-disaster reconstruction. This paper compared the medical rescue between Yushu earthquake and Wenchuan earthquake in order to summarize the experience, form the standard, and provide references for decision-making.
Shortly after Wenchuan earthquake, the leader group of the West China Second Hospital accurately defined the role of the hospital during the medical rescue work and ensured the safety of the inpatients. It cooperated with West China Hospital, going to the main battlefield to rescue the injured people, congregating the main medical resources to the disaster areas for medical rescue. The model of the hospital was immediately transformed from the regular state into a double-track emergent state. Scientific allocation and dispatch of the resources were ensured to meet the ever-changing demands from all levels of rescue work. Assembling the elite, 12 medical teams and 148 medical staff in all were dispatched to Beichuan, Mianyang, Shifang and Dujiangyan as well as other severe disaster areas. Up to June 2nd, 329 patients from the disaster area had been treated, of whom 132 were admitted into the inpatient department, no one died. Moreover, even during such a period of time, the routine medical service had been offered as regular to patients other than the wounded in the disaster.
During the medical rescue of Wenchuan earthquake, in accordance with the instruction of the Chinese Ministry of Health, West China Hospital set up the Medical Supply Center for Medical Teams from Other Provinces, put up standard storehouses within 10 hours, performed professional purchase, precisely distributed medical materials according to relevant demands, and decided the scientific route based on the distribution of medical teams from other provinces, so as to ensure the medical materials’ being delivered to the medical teams safely, promptly and accurately.
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.
A 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit china again, 702 days after Wenchuan Earthquake at Yushu prefecture of Qinghai province, 4000 meters above sea level. Up to April 19th, the death toll climbed to 1706, with 256 missing and 12128 injured. West China Hospital, as a regional state-level hospital of Ministry of Health, organized the first batch of medical team with relief supplies at the first day after Yushu earthquake and rushed to Yushu taking part into the rescue effort in golden seventy-two hours. The second day after Yushu earthquake, medical apparatus and drugs valued 5,000,000 RMB were delivered to the rescue site and the second batch of medical team were positioned. Within thirty three hours after the earthquake, 102 people, including 93 earthquake related injuries and 9 armed police with severe altitude illness, were sent to our hospital by air in four batches successively. Based on the first-hand experience of medical rescue in Wenchuan Earthquake, a series of diagnosis and treatment criteria which were built and developed with evidence-based method, and “four concentration principles”, namely concentrating the wounded, concentrating the experts, concentrating resources, and concentrating treatments, our medical rescue in Yushu earthquake were carried out appropriately. Up to 12 am., April 19th, 93 cases from the disaster area have been treated, of whom 54 seriously wounded, 58 underwent operations and none death. The experience learnt from Wenchuan Earthquake have been used, improved and sublimated more rapidly, more appropriately, more effectively in the Yushu earthquake medical rescue.
During the medical rescue of Wenchuan earthquake, on the condition of ensuring the security of producing environment and food, following the four concepts including standard production, instant cooling technology, networking management and nutrition guidance, the CPU of West China Hospital stopped the production of possibly uncontrolled food, developed a reasonable plan for materials in stock, reinforced the inspection of sources of raw materials and quality of food, adjusted styles of dishes, proviced made special food for the wounded and their relatives from different districts and nationalities, new dishes for the wounded and the medical staff, so as not only to assure the nutrition for the slightly wounded, but also to provide the individualized nutrition treatment for the severely wounded. A total of 70 077 person-times for the wounded from the disaster area (36 330 person-times for the wounded and 33 747 person-times for their family members), and 36 273 person-times for doctors and nurses have been served. Meanwhile, the food service has also been offered as regular to other patients and hospital staff, with a maximum of 18 372 person-times per day.
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.
Shortly after Wenchuan earthquake, the administrative leaders of West China Hospital accurately defined the role of the hospital during the medical rescue work as the treatment center for the seriously wounded, the supporting center for the local hospitals/clinics of the disaster areas, and the logistic supporting center for medical teams from other provinces. Integrated leadership of management and with efficient multi-department coordination and cooperation were emphasized. The mode of the hospital was immediately transformed from the regular state into a double-track emergent state. Scientific allocation and dispatch of resources were ensured to meet the ever-changing demand from all levels of rescue work. Three stages were defined based on the conditions of the wounded delivered to the hospital, with different main focuses for each stage. Owing to the multi-disciplinary cooperation and concerted efforts of a large number of experts from other provinces or even other countries, effective and efficient medical rescue service has been offered to all the wounded. Up to June 2nd, 2?618 cases from the disaster area have been treated, of whom 1 751 admitted into the inpatient department, 1 135 seriously wounded, 127 admitted into the Intensive Care Unit, 1 239 underwent operations and 77 treated with hemodialysis, with an inpatient mortality lower than 0.7%. Moreover, even during such a period of time, the routine medical service has been offered as regular to patients other than the wounded in the disaster.