Lu-shan earthquake occurred at 8:02 am, on April 20th, 2013. The epicenter of earthquake was located in Lu-shan county, Ya’an city, Sichuan province, about 100 km from Chengdu along the Longmenshan fault zone in the same province heavily impacted by the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. The earthquake has resulted in 196 people dead, 24 missing, at least 11,470 injured as of 14:30, April 24th, 2013. After Lu-shan earthquake, medical rescue teams were dispatched from the West China Hospital, Sichuan University to the stricken area. This article written by a member of the rescue team reported the difficult and dangerous rescue work and the performance of rescue members in the stricken area.
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.
Objective To provide references for production and dissemination of evidence in the fields of medical emergency management, treatment, and prevention of epidemics after May 2008 Wenchuan earthquake by systematically reviewing, analyzing, and comparing quake related papers in medical journals. Methods We systematically searched MEDLINE and CBM (Chinese Biomedical Literature) databases (range: from inception to Sept. 2009). Quake related papers were imported into EndNote software, checked for duplication, and categorized by predefined standards. Descriptive statistical analysis was performed by SPSS 13.0. Results There were relatively fewer quake related articles globally before the occurrence of the Wenchuan earthquake, and the quantity of papers in MEDLINE was four times than that in CBM. In contrast, the quantity of Chinese quake articles increased rapidly after Wenchuan earthquake, peaking in Aug. 2008 at 6.9 times the average during the 50 years before the quake. The quake related papers in CBM appeared in 378 journals covering a diverse range of subject matter. Meanwhile, there was little change in the quantity of quake related articles in MEDLINE database. Conclusions The effort of producing and disseminating Wenchuan earthquake related medical research has been effectively organized and conducted in a scientific and timely manner, producing the largest in number of quake related medical papers in human history. It has provided first-hand guidance for disaster medical relief around the globe. We should strengthen the systematic construction of disaster medicine, and make an effort to summarize and disseminate evidence in the fields of rehabilitation, system reestablishment, and prevention of epidemics.
Objective A retrospective summary of the planning, organization, and implementation of the transprovince transfer of patients injured in Wenchuan Earthquake with an emphasis on experiences that may be helpful in future emergency rescue and patient transfer. Methods We collected the daily reports of a patient transfer team attached to the Sichuan Rescue Headquarters from May 12 through May 31, 2008. Results Under the guidance of policy made by the coordinating group of the Ministry of Health, and with the close cooperation of the railway and airline departments the transferring group transferred 10 373 patients in the period studied. The transfers were from 11 disaster areas, including Chengdu, Mianyang, and Deyang, to 20 cities and provinces, including Chongqing, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang. There were no casualties during transfer, and thus the biggest peacetime government-organized trans-province patienttransfer in China’s history achieved success. Conclusion Trans-province patient transfer is an effective measure to compensate for inadequate medical materials, relieve pressure on medical rescue, and guarantee quality of treatment. In the future, emergency plans for different types of disasters will be established, the information platform will be improved, and transfer procedures will be specified.
Baoxing airborne medical team of West China Hospital participated in the medical rescue in 2013 “4?20”Lushan earthquake. The medical team excellently fulfilled their rescue task for 1 week in the earthquake-struck areas where there was power and communication failure and lack of water and food supply. We found some experiences and problems in airbornemedical team assembly and member selection, which may provide quotable experiences for future disaster assistance and rescue teams.
We systematically and retrospectively analyzed the experience and lessons from the command system, medical rescue force deployment, medical treatment, public health response for infectious disease control, and health counterpart assistance for emergency medical rescue after the 2008 earthquake in Wenchuan, Sichuan Province, China. We propose that emergency medical rescue after tremendous catastrophes in China link responses at the national, provincial, city, and county levels, to set up an effective and cooperative medical relief forces coordination system and an effective triage system and rehabilitation plan. In addition, infectious disease control should be planned and assessed more quickly, and developing vital functions of pairing-assistance as a means with Chinese characteristic. Our aim is to provide a useful reference for medical rescue after natural catastrophes worldwide, especially after earthquakes.
Objective To assess the acute high altitude sickness (AHAS) and its risk factors among public health emergency responders, so as to provide scientific proof for guaranteeing the safety and health of emergency rescue workers. Methods?The self-administered questionnaire aim at learning AHAS occurrence and its risk factors were distributed to 67 members from 4 teams at different altitudes selected among 35 rescue teams. The AHAS could be diagnosed by a total score of more than or equal to 5 within 3 days since arrival, as in the following detail: 1-3 score could be assigned in accordance with the following symptoms in degrees of the mild, moderate or severe, respectively: headache, nausea or vomiting, lassitude, dizziness and blurred vision, and sleep disorder; and 1 score could be assigned for each of the following symptoms: palpitation, shortness of breath, nosebleed, chest distress, diarrhea, constipation, cyanochroia of the lips, numbness in hands and feet, and dry cough. Results?A total of 54 among 67 (81%) responders completed the questionnaire, among whom 93% were males and the median age was 36 with the scope from 24 to 55, and 63% (34 respondents) developed AHAS. The univariate analysis showed that the altitude of the responders’ original residence (10 score for “lt;100 m” vs. 5.2 score for “gt;1 000 m”, P=0.005), experiences in high altitude areas (10 score for “having not” vs. 6.4 score for “having”, P=0.039), length of stay in an area over 2 000 m altitude before arrival (9.4 score for “≥3 days” vs. 5.7 score for “≤1 day”, P=0.011), luggage weight (9.8 score for “≥25 kg” vs. 5.5 score for “lt;25 kg”, P=0.002) were correlated with AHAS severity. The multivariate linear regression indicated that the lower altitude of the responders’ original residence and the short stay in an area over 2000m altitude before arrival were the factors influencing the severity of AHAS. The linear regression formulation was Y= 2.89 - 0.187 × the altitude of the responders’ original residence (pre 100m) + 2.43 × the length of stay in an area over 2000m altitude before arriving at Yushu (day). Conclusions?The past experiences and the pre-arrival preparation are critical factors of AHAS. Measures should be taken to protect the safety and health of responders dispatched to high altitude areas.
Objective To strengthen and improve the decision of emergency medical rescue and provide the experience for the world, the article evaluates the performance of emergency command in Yushu Earthquake.Methods All the materials seen during the first year after Yushu earthquake were collected, such as all documents, information notifications and work reports issued by the Central Government and the Ministry of Health, and all the information from the website of News Office of the State Council, Ministry of Health, State Seismology Bureau, Qinghai Provincial People’s Government, and Department of Health of Qinghai Province. The data were also searched from CNKI and descriptively analyzed after the retrospective study. Results Based on the experience from Wenchuan Earthquake, the emergency command in Yushu Earthquake was characterized by: a) Promptly starting a Level-1 response; b) Setting up and completing an integrated work mechanism of military, police and the local government; and c) Achieving an accurate command under the guidance of precise information. Conclusion As the successful precedent of large-scale medical and health rescue at the high-altitude area in the world, the experience of Yushu Earthquake supplements and enriches the Wenchuan’s, and provides references for both domestic and overseas disaster medical emergency response.
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.