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.
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.
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.
Shortly after the disastrous Wenchuan earthquake, a harmonious working environment for healthcare professionals both at home and abroad has been formed in West China Hospital, under an integrated managerial framework and working model. Four foreign medical teams consisting of over 70 professionals and foreign medical materials weighing about 8 tons have been accepted. This model may provide references for the reception of foreign medical teams during the emergent medical rescue for any unexpected event in the future.
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.
The Department of Finance, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, ChinaAbstract During the medical rescue of the earthquake, the Department of Finance of West China Hospital initiated emergency response plan, not only ensured the security of funds of hospital in the earthquake, but also opened a green channel of emergent finance to the wounded, so as to assure more than 2 600 wounded people of their registration for emergency treatment, emergent disposal, hospitalization, operation and medication, the comprehensive, precise and prompt record of which offered the government the basic data and references to work out the policy of financial subsidy for the treatment of the wounded. Furthermore, the financial supervision and management of materials and funds of disaster relief were reinforced.
During the medical rescue after the earthquake, the Security Department of West China Hospital understood those factors affecting the hospital safety in the earthquake disaster, established emergent communication platform and information release channel, and opened up special areas and passages for the wounded, so as to ensure smooth passages for the rescue work, security of disaster-relief materials as well as an orderly, safe and stable medical environment.
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 analyze the rationality of emergency medication in the West China Hospital after Lushan earthquake based on the actual drug use of earthquake victims. Methods We applied DDDs and DUI as evaluation index, input data using Excel software, and analyzed if the emergency medication was required for the injury/illness and the rationality of emergency medication. Results Earthquake victims mainly had trauma and wound infection and they were given antibiotics as main treatment one week after the earthquake. Drugs for the respiratory system and digestive system were mainly used in patients who mainly manifested as non-traumatic diseases and internal diseases four weeks after the earthquake. Among 49 kinds of drugs which could be calculated for the value of DUI, injection accounted for a larger proportion than non-injection (59.18% vs. 40.82%). The results showed that, the medication (DUI=1) only accounted for 12.24%; the medication (DUIlt;1, Mean=0.65) accounted for 38.78%, which implied insufficient drug use; the medication (DUIgt;1, Mean=1.77) accounted for 46.94%, which implied drug overuse. Conclusion Medication for every system is basically timely and rational when treating symptoms and causes in the West China Hospital within one month after Lushan earthquake. However, the rationality of emergency medications using DUI=1 under normal conditions still needs to be further verified.
During the medical rescue of Wenchuan earthquake, the Nursing Department of West China Hospital of Sichuan University immediately initiated the emergency response plan, reasonably dispatched nurses of the medical teams from West China Hospital, other provinces and foreign countries. Meanwhile, the Nursing Department set up the medical team for emergency treatment, provided the basic information of the wounded, established the flow of rapid registration and rapid preview, formulated and optimized the flow of the admission of the wounded, and improved the flow of information-collecting. What’s more, the nursing department adjusted the current work according to the situation of hospitalization of the wounded in different stages to ensure the efficient running of medical rescue. Moreover, the routine nursing practice was also maintained and none of the inpatients other than those from the disaster area got involved in any unexpected accident.