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Volume 36 - Issue 5 - October 2021

Prehospital and Disaster Medicine Volume 36 - Issue 5 -
Contents

Page 2 of 2

Special Report

  • Medical Care in a Police Intervention with Conducted Electrical Weapons: Zaragoza (Spain) Fire Department Protocol

  • Armando Cester-Martínez, Leticia Serrano-Lasaosa, Diego Borraz-Clares
  • Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    09 August 2021, pp. 639-644

  • In the last decade, conducted electrical weapons (CEWs) have become a new tool for law enforcement agencies as an alternative to firearms. They provide security in the intervention for both the police and the citizen and try to cause the least possible harm to the subject to immobilize.

    The health care providers who perform in joint actions with the police in which CEWs are used should be aware of how they work, risk groups, as well as the most frequent clinical effects associated with the application of electrical discharge, and the complications that can be produced according to the area of impact of the electrodes.

    For this purpose, the current medical literature was reviewed by consulting the main health care sciences database (PubMed) to determine the medical measures to be taken before, during, and after the use of these weapons. Also presented and shared is the Zaragoza (Spain) Fire Department protocol.

  • Decontamination of Surgical Instruments for Safe Wound Care Surgeries in Disasters: What are the Options? A Scoping Review

  • Anna Rowinski, Johan von Schreeb
  • Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    22 September 2021, pp. 645-650
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  • International guidelines stipulate that autoclavation is necessary to sterilize surgical equipment. World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for decontamination of medical devices require four levels of decontamination: cleaning, low- and high-level disinfection, as well as sterilization. Following disasters, there is a substantial need for wound care surgery. This requires prompt availability of a significant volume of instruments that are adequately decontaminated. Ideally, they should be sterilized using an autoclave, but due to the resource-limited field context, this may be impossible. The aim of this study was therefore to identify whether there are portable and less resource-demanding techniques to decontaminate surgical instruments for safe wound care surgery in disasters. A scoping review was chosen, and searches were performed in three scientific databases, grey literature, and included data from organizations and journals. Articles were scanned for decontamination techniques feasible for use in the resource-scarce disaster setting given that: they achieved at least high-level disinfected instruments, were portable, and did not require electricity. A total of 401 articles were reviewed, yielding 13 articles for inclusion. The study identified three techniques: pressure cooking, boiling, and liquid chemical immersion, all achieving either sterilized or high-level disinfected instruments. It was concluded that besides autoclaves, there are less resource-demanding decontamination techniques available for safe wound surgery in disasters. This study provides systematic information to guide optimal standard setting for sterilization of surgical material in resource-limited disaster settings.

Field Report

  • PT EMT – Portuguese Emergency Medical Team Type 1 Relief Mission in Mozambique

  • Luis M. Ladeira, Ivo Cardoso, Hélder Ribeiro, João Lourenço, Raquel Ramos, Filipa Barros, Fátima Rato
  • Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    02 September 2021, pp. 651-653
  • Introduction:

    The tropical cyclone Idai hit Mozambique in the city of Beira on March 15, 2019. During the following days, the Portuguese Emergency Medical Team (PT EMT) and its infrastructure deployed to Mozambique with the mission of helping local people and collaborating with the authorities.

    Methods:

    Data analyzed were collected in the period of the deployment, from April 1-April 30, 2019. All patients admitted to PT EMT were registered through the Clinical Record of PT EMT.

    Results:

    In total, 1,662 patients were admitted to PT EMT during the 30-day mission. The five most prevalent diagnoses were: 61.49% classified with “code 29” (which corresponds to “other unspecified diagnoses”), 9.15% of cases of skin disease, 8.90% of minor injuries, 6.74% of acute respiratory infection, and 3.19% of obstetric/genecology complications.

    Discussion and Challenges:

    An important challenge identified was the need for a robust and effective network for transporting patients, allowing transfers between EMTs, enabling a true network response in the provision of care to disaster victims.

    Conclusions:

    The benefit of the deployment of PT EMT in Mozambique after Cyclone Idai was in line with the EMT initiative standards, allowing a direct delivery of care to the affected Mozambican population and support to the local health authorities.

Letter to the Editor

  • Discussions about the Predictor and Outcome of Transfusion Therapy for Earthquake Patients

  • Yaqi Chen, Hai Hu, Chengrun Song
  • Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    09 August 2021, pp. 654-656
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  • Natural Disasters, Ecological Knowledge, and COVID-19 in the Philippines

  • Jan Gresil Kahambing
  • Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    21 July 2021, pp. 657-658
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  • Challenges of COVID-19 Vaccination in Iran: In the Fourth Wave of Pandemic Spread

  • Mohammad Heidari, Hamid Jafari
  • Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    21 July 2021, pp. 659-660
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Front Cover (OFC, IFC) and matter

  • PDM volume 36 issue 5 Cover and Front matter

  • Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    22 September 2021, pp. f1-f6
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Back Cover (IBC, OBC) and matter

  • PDM volume 36 issue 5 Cover and Back matter

  • Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    22 September 2021, pp. b1-b2
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