33 Disaster surgery

0 0 I I II II III III Figure 33.7 Triage tags ( (a) courtesy of TACDA & METTAG products, The Amer...

0 I II III First aid Care for patients with minor injuries involves cleaning and dressing wounds,...

COMMON FEATURES OF MAJOR DISASTERS Any event that results in the loss of human life is disastrou...

Coordination with relief agencies A laudable aspect of globalisation is the outpouring of help ...

Crush injury and syndrome A crush injury occurs when a body part is subjected to a high degree of...

DEFINITIVE MANAGEMENT The hospitals designated to undertake de�nitive management should be sele...

DISASTER PLANS Disasters are unforeseen events and planning for them may seem paradoxical. It has...

Damage assessment The first objective in disaster management is an assessment of the damage and t...

Dealing with the media Disasters act like a magnet for the media. In today’s world of 24-hour new...

Debridement Taken from the French, meaning to ‘unleash or cut open’, debridement plays a crucial ...

Designated centres Initially , the casualties may be scattered among many hospitals. After the fir...

Establishment of a national disaster management organisation This is the first step in the plannin...

Establishment of a national disaster management organisation This is the first step in the plannin...

Evacuation of casualties Decisions regarding the best destination for each patient need to be bas...

Evacuation planning Evacuation of large population centres as a prelude to, or in the wake of, a...

FACTORS INFLUENCING RELIEF EFFORTS AND PROVISION OF MEDICAL AID Good communication is critical fo...

FACTORS INFLUENCING RELIEF EFFORTS AND PROVISION OF MEDICAL AID Good communication is critical fo...

FURTHER READING Bartholdson S, von Schreeb J. Natural disasters and injuries: what does a /uni00A...

Facial injuries The management of facial injuries follows the same general principles of debride...

Field hospitals The decision to deploy field hospitals depends on the location, the number of cas...

Frostbite and immersion injuries (trench foot) Frostbite occurs when a part of the body freezes. ...

Gas gangrene (clostridial myonecrosis) Gas gangrene is a dreaded consequence of late-presenting m...

HANDING OVER Follow-up and secondary problems The medical aspect of disaster management does not...

Hospital reorganisation In hospitals receiving mass casualties some reorganisation of services is...

INTRODUCTION Natural disasters provide a constant reminder of the power and capricious nature of...

Learning objectives To recognise and understand: The common features of various disasters • The p...

Limb salvage The Mangled Extremity Severity Score (MESS) and its modi - fications are useful in de...

Management in the field Field hospitals principally function in three main areas ( Table 33.2 ). S...

Mobilising resources The next step is mobilisation of human and material resources appropriate t...

Necrotising fasciitis Necrotising fasciitis is a rapidly spreading infection that produces necros...

Organisation of emergency services Emergency services such as the fire brigade, police and ambu la...

Rescue operation Early coordination of the rescue e ff ort allows optimal use of resources. The fi...

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SEQUENCE OF RELIEF EFFORTS AFTER A DISASTER Establishing a chain of command Many countries have d...

SEQUENCE OF RELIEF EFFORTS AFTER A DISASTER Establishing a chain of command Many countries have d...

SPECIFIC ISSUES There is no injury that is peculiar to disasters and the whole spectrum of exter...

Tetanus This potentially fatal condition, also called ‘lockjaw’, is caused by Clostridium tetani ...

Triage Derived from the French verb trier , triage means ‘to sort’ and is the cornerstone of the...