ObjectiveTo understand the levels of and influencing factors for knowledge of earthquake in the elderly population. MethodPeople who were older than 60 years in the earthquake area of Sichuan Province were surveyed by self-designed earthquake knowledge scale composed of 6 items with a point of 1-5 for each item between October and November 2013. The total score ranged from 6 to 30 points. ResultsUp to 1 509 elderly people participated the survey. The total score of earthquake knowledge was 13.33±4.85. The main resource for acquiring those knowledge was TV (76.87%). Occupation, education level, residency, marital status, residence, self-injury, health status, access to earthquake knowledge, and worrying about earthquake were related factors for their knowledge on earthquake (P<0.05). Regression analysis showed that the higher degree of education, having a spouse, living in city, more access to earthquake knowledge, worrying about earthquake were the promotion factors for earthquake knowledge preparedness. Self-injury, poor health were the factors that hindered the acquiring of earthquake knowledge preparedness. ConclusionsIt is necessary to train knowledge of earthquake for elderly people individually because they lack enough resources and tend to be affected by many factors.
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.
Objective To provide a disaster triage method by analyzing the data of the hospital transferring casualties after Wenchuan earthquake. Method The data of the patients’ admission and hospital transferring in the West China Hospital were collected after the earthquake in two weeks. Moreover, the reason and the method of the hospital transferring were analyzed. Result In the first two weeks since the earthquake struck Wenchuan, the number of the available bed for earthquake patients in West China Hospital was 124 per day, but in the 2 227 earthquake patients treated, 1 181 patients were admitted. Comparing with the number of the total hospitalized, the percentage is 53.03%. The hospital was overloaded. After a reasonable hospital transference, the daily number of inpatients was stable and all the patients were treated sufficiently. Conclusion After a natural disaster, an effective administration transferring patients to suitable medical recourse should be performed, so that more right treatments should be given to more right patients in the right time and right place.
ObjectiveTo analyze the characteristics of Chinese military health forces use in earthquake medical rescue, so as to provide experience for improving medical support capabilities of military health forces. MethodsThe data about medical rescue efforts of military health forces in Wenchuan and Yushu earthquakes were collected on the basis of field research. The relevant military documents, materials and literature were reviewed. And descriptive analysis was then performed. ResultsChinese military health forces carries out the medical rescue efforts with the following characteristics, rapid forces grouping and flexible forces deployment. ConclusionsMilitary health forces should meet the medical and health demands of the stricken area. The medical forces should be grouped and deployed rapidly, sufficiently and totally. The diversified forces should be mixing organized. The forces should be deployed by integration and modularization.
Objectives To evaluate the effectiveness, safety, applicability and economy of psychological assessment instruments including checklists, questionnaires and scales used in population exposed to earthquake. MethodsWe searched PubMed, EMbase, The Cochrane Library, CBM, CNKI, VIP, WanFang Data, and CiNii databases, as well as special websites about earthquake and disaster management from inception to July 30th, 2014 to collect studies related to psychological assessment of population exposed to earthquake in the first month after quake. A descriptive analysis was conducted to analyze the positive detection rate of psychological problems, rate of informed consent, and effective response rate in population exposed to earthquake, as well as the cost of psychological assessment. ResultsA total of 67 studies were included which involved 4 instruments including Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90), Self-Reporting Questionnaire-20 (SRQ-20), Chinese Psychosomatic Health Scale-134 (CPSHS-134) and 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). SCL-90 was the most commonly used scale. Forty-five studies reported the positive detection rate of psychological problems in population exposed to earthquake. The positive detection rates by using SCL-90, GHQ-12 and SRQ-20 were 8.6% to 77.8%, 65.6% to 89.9% and 65.6% to 89.9%, respectively. Informed consent was reported in 27 studies, and effective response rate was reported in 20 studies with the highest one 99.56% for CPSHS-134. No study reported the cost of psychological assessment. ConclusionSCL-90, RQ-20, CPSHS-134 and GHQ-12 are mainly used instruments for assessing psychological problems in population exposed to earthquake in the first month after quake. The reporting of important information related to effectiveness, safety, applicability and economy of psychological assessment instruments is insufficient and not standardized. A concise and authoritative psychological assessment instrument for population exposed to earthquake is warranted.
During the medical rescue of Wenchuan earthquake, as a hospital which mainly admitted the severely wounded, West China Hospital immediately shifted to the double-track emergent system from the previous single-track system and dispatched sufficient manpower and materials. The beds in the Department of Orthopaedics were increased to 680. In addition, in order to ensure effective treatment, the hospital dealt with the wounded based on their specific conditions in different stages and optimized the flow of admission of the wounded. Besides, we opened the referral channel for the wounded. Up to June 2nd, 2008, a total of 2?618 wounded people have been treated in to the hospital, and 648 with minor injuries after proper treatment have been referred to the nearby basic-level hospitals.
In the hospital where centralized treatment was applied for the victims after Yiliang earthquake (on 7th September, 2012), a holistic rehabilitation service mode which centred on supportive psychological intervention promoting was developed by the Yiliang psychological crisis intervention team designated by the National Health and Family Planning Commision of the People’s Republic of China. The pattern takes psychological nurses as liaison, bases on the integrity and continuity of medical service, roots in comprehensive health assessment and key assessment of mental trauma stress, emphasizes on solving realistic problems for patients and their caregivers, provides supportive psychological intervention, and encourages psychological nurses to offer psychological support for earthquake victims with the help of quantitative self-assessment of social psychological support service. In practice, the mode of psychological services, which could be contiuously conducted, is welcomed by hospital managers, work staff, and earthquake victims and their caregivers.
Objective To investigate the recovery status of people wounded in the Wenchuan earthquake. Method Data were retrospectively collected from administrative documents in the Bureau of Medical Affairs, Sichuan Provincial Health Department. The severity of injury was assessed by Injury Severity Score (ISS). The data were recorded by EXCEL software and descriptive analysis was conducted. Results Our analysis results of rehabilitation treatment through Feb. 5, 2009 shows that 27,080 of the 28,008 patients had been treated and discharged, for a discharge rate of 97.8%. There were 928 patients still in hospitals at that time, including 55 cases of traumatic brain injury, 163 cases of paraplegia, 260 amputees, and 449 cases of severe spine, pelvis and other fractures. Some amputees needed to receive replacement of artificial limbs or stump dressing operation and rehabilitation; most patients who were installed internal fixation needed to removal and post-rehabilitation. Conclusions The effectiveness of rehabilitation is significant. Our work in the next stage should focus on (1) continuing to improve the establishment of province’s rehabilitation capabilities and increasing capital investment; (2) enhancing training for medical rehabilitation practitioners in order to improve operational standards and service capabilities; (3) developing the wounded rehabilitation standards in later stages, conducting follow-up and functional training in order to maximize recovery and return to society; (4) increasing employment opportunities for disabled persons.
During the medical rescue of Wenchuan earthquake, in accordance with the instruction of the Chinese Ministry of Health, West China Hospital set up the Medical Supply Center for Medical Teams from Other Provinces, put up standard storehouses within 10 hours, performed professional purchase, precisely distributed medical materials according to relevant demands, and decided the scientific route based on the distribution of medical teams from other provinces, so as to ensure the medical materials’ being delivered to the medical teams safely, promptly and accurately.
Objective To investigate the amputation-related pain and quality of life (QoL) between the amputees with transfemoral amputation (TFA) and transtibial amputation (TTA) 10 years after the Wenchuan earthquake, and compare the effects of two different amputation level on the long-term functional rehabilitation of amputees. Methods A total of 305 amputees from Center of Comprehensive Service of Disabled of Deyang for the disabled 10 years after the Wenchuan earthquake were selected for cross-sectional study from February to June 2018. Through face-to-face interview, the basic information of amputees was collected and the evaluation of Prosthetic Evaluation Questionnaire (PEQ) was completed. The amputees were divided into TFA group and TTA group according to the amputation level. Results A total of 53 amputees were included, including 27 in the TFA group and 26 in the TTA group. The PEQ scores showed that the prevalences of phantom limb sensation (96.3% vs. 65.4%; χ2=6.372, P=0.012) and phantom limb pain (92.6% vs. 69.2%; P=0.039) in the TFA group were significantly higher than those in the TTA group. There was no significant difference with regard to the intensity of amputation-related pain between the victims with TFA and TTA (P>0.05). However, the TFA group were more bothered by phantom limb sensation than the TTA group (52.9±24.1 vs. 35.9±26.7; t=2.108, P=0.042), there was no significant difference in other indexes (P>0.05). There was no significant difference in QoL between the TFA and TTA groups (P>0.05). Conclusions The phantom limb sensation, phantom limb pain, residual limb pain, non-amputated limb pain and back pain are still prevalent among the victims with TFA and TTA 10 years after the Wenchuan earthquake. The higher amputation level is associated with increased prevalence of phantom limb sensation and phantom limb pain, as well as more bothersomeness of phantom limb sensation. The amputation level appeares to have no impact on the long-term QoL.