Energy interruption and infrastructure damage are the common characteristic between the snow disaster occurred in some southern provinces of China and the 5?12 Wenchuan earthquake in China in 2008. This paper summaries the effects on medical and health institutions caused by interruption of energy flow and damaged infrastructure, shares the preparation and response practices, experience, and lessons of medical disasters, and gives suggestions about how to prepare and response for medical and health institutions when energy flow is interrupted and infrastructure is damaged.
During the medical rescue after Wenchuan earthquake, based on the design and implementation of the management process of blood purification equipment, we gave the top priority to those patients with post-disaster crush syndrome to ensure their hemodialytic treatment. Through strict management of blood purification technology, the outcomes of these patients have been fundamentally improved and the incidence of complications was substantially reduced. Safe and effective hemodialytic treatment have been administered to 77 patients with crush syndrome (813 case-times).
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 discuss the mode of triage patient in Emergency Department of West China Hospital of Sichuan University after the Wenchuan earthquake and the major experience during the process. Method The patients’ severity level of injury and waiting time for medical care in Emergency Department were analyzed after earthquake in 2 weeks. Result 375 patients were triaged into the severity level and get the treatment followed the triage systems gave the highest rate of survival and lowest rate of over triage and under triage. Conclusion In the calamity of Wenchuan earthquake with large number of casualties, Emergency Department automatically shifted into disaster mode and triage victims by the irregular triage systems. In this situation, medical staff do not just triage the patients to the Emergency Department or to see a doctor, but triage the victims to the medical care immediately and efficiently. By the new triage system, the West China Hospital saves more lives in less time.
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.
Objective To explore the structure and influencing factors of overall medical treatment expenses of 1 635 inpatients of Wenchuan earthquake in West China Hospital and to provide references for setting up the criteria of medical expenses and for assess the cost-effect of medical rescue and treatment. Methods The data of earthquake casualties were collected to analyze the constitution and influencing factors of the overall medical expense by SPSS 13.0 software. The data were described by X±SD. Comparison of data categories was tested by rank sum and influencing factors were analyzed by multi ple l inear regression analysis. Results A total of 1 635 casualties including 1 413 (86.04%) earthquake wounded and 222 (13.96%) patients from the disaster area were identified. The average expense per capita was 9 165.05±12 426.11 yuan. The overall cost was made up of operation expenses (71.75%) including material cost, examination fee and treatment fee, drug cost (18.41%) as well as bed fee and others (less than 10%). The cost of patients from the disaster area was higher than that of the earthquake wounded (Z= –4.109, P=0.000). The operation, compl ications, multiple-site damages, injures induced by the secondary disaster of the earthquake such as burn and corrosion were the direct reason leading to the high overall expense. The influencing factors included operation (r=0.386), ICU (r=0.336) and the day of hospital ization (r=0.246). Conclusion The earthquake wounded occupy the predominant percentage of the earthquake inpatients in West China Hospital. The operation, compl ications, multiple-site damages and injures induced by the secondary disaster of the earthquake lead to a high overall expense. The influencing factors include operation, ICU and the day of hospital ization. The relationship between the expense and the disease category largely depends on the classification criteria. The relationship between the expense and the age as well as the prognosis needs further study. But no correlation between the expense and the gender is found.
Objective To examine the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and depression for medical staffs who took part in rescue in the disaster area after Wenchuan Earthquake. Methods According to purpose sampling method, from June 12th to June 18th, we investigated the medical staffs in eight areas, and the total number was 500. The eight areas included Mianzhu, Deyang, Shifang, Chengdu, Mianyang, Pengzhou, Zitong, and Anxian. The survey tools were PTSD Checklist-Civilian Version (PCL-C), Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), and Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS). After collecting all questionnaires, we divided 500 medical staffs into 2 groups, according to the fact whether the rescue was carried out in the disaster area or not. Results A total of 500 questionnaires were given to the subjects, of which 481 effective ones were collected, and the effective rate was about 96.2%. In addition, the prevalence of PTSD for overall was 23.3%, anxiety was 21.6%, depression was 49.9%, and the anxiety plus depression was 19.54%. At the same time, we found out the averages of PCL-C (48.29±29.90 vs. 34.76±18.03), PCL-C frequency (16.27±15.14 vs. 9.99±10.25), PCL-C severity (32.03±15.26 vs. 24.85±8.60), SAS primitive (37.39±10.35 vs. 32.22±7.61), SAS standard (46.73±12.94 vs. 40.27±9.51), SDS primitive (42.00±8.32 vs. 37.99±9.63), and SDS standard (52.50±10.39 vs. 47.48±11.92) were different. The medical staffs in the disaster area were under more severe conditions, and there were significant differences between the 2 groups. The prevalence of PTSD (28.52% vs. 16.59), anxiety (28.89% vs. 12.32%), depression (58.15% vs. 39.34%), and anxiety plus depression (26.67% vs. 10.43%) between the 2 groups was significantly different, and the disaster area was under severe conditions. Additionally, the prevalences at three levels within SAS and SDS were much higher in the disaster area. There were also significant differences. Conclusion The prevalences of PTSD, SAS, and SDS within medical staffs who took part in rescue in the disaster area after Wenchuan Earthquake are higher than in the non-disaster area. Therefore, we should work out mental intervention and rehabilitation project for medical staffs, especially those who took part in rescue in the disaster area. Finally, the medical staffs’ ability to copy with stress can be improved.
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.
Objective To analyze retrospectively the 1861 wounded inpatients and deaths in West China Hospital of Sichuan University after the Wenchuan earthquake, so as to provide reference for the improvement of emergency plans for the disaster of earthquake and the establishment of state-level regional medical centers. Methods The analysis was based on the data provided by the Department of Information of the Hospital up until July 23. The software of Microsoft EXCEL was used for data input, and SPSS 11.5 was used for statistical analysis. Results Up to July 23, 2728 cases from the disaster area have been treated in the hospital, of whom 872 were admitted into the emergency department and 1856 into the inpatient department (974 men, median age 43 years; 882 women, median age 46 years). Most patients were sent to the hospital within the first 2 weeks after the quake (82.4%), and the number of inpatients reached its peak on Day 8 after the quake (976 cases). The majority of the inpatients were discharged on Day 9 to Day 18 after the quake (60.2%). The wounded were mainly from Deyang, Aba Prefecture and Dujiangyan. The admission diagnoses were mainly fracture (54.84%), craniocerebral injury (9.81%) and thoracoabdominal injury (7.54%). There were totally 33 deaths, including 5 pre-hospital deaths, 1 emergency death and 27 inpatient deaths. Conclusion The development of an emergency plan for the medical rescue after an earthquake disaster is an essential step to enhance the emergent response capability, improve the scientific process of field triage, transport and transfer, and ensure the rational allocation and application of healthcare resources after any unexpected big disasters in the future.
To retrospectively summarize the medical rescue organization and strategy of West China Hospital medical team during the Wenchuan earthquake so as to provide reference for rescue practice in the future. We emphasize that the key point to improve the efficiency of rescue is scientifically assigning and util izing medical resource according to the demand at the actual locale of the earthquake and the characters of various stages of the earthquake .