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.
Shortly after Wenchuan earthquake, the administrative leaders of West China Hospital accurately defined the role of the hospital during the medical rescue work as the treatment center for the seriously wounded, the supporting center for the local hospitals/clinics of the disaster areas, and the logistic supporting center for medical teams from other provinces. Integrated leadership of management and with efficient multi-department coordination and cooperation were emphasized. The mode of the hospital was immediately transformed from the regular state into a double-track emergent state. Scientific allocation and dispatch of resources were ensured to meet the ever-changing demand from all levels of rescue work. Three stages were defined based on the conditions of the wounded delivered to the hospital, with different main focuses for each stage. Owing to the multi-disciplinary cooperation and concerted efforts of a large number of experts from other provinces or even other countries, effective and efficient medical rescue service has been offered to all the wounded. Up to June 2nd, 2?618 cases from the disaster area have been treated, of whom 1 751 admitted into the inpatient department, 1 135 seriously wounded, 127 admitted into the Intensive Care Unit, 1 239 underwent operations and 77 treated with hemodialysis, with an inpatient mortality lower than 0.7%. Moreover, even during such a period of time, the routine medical service has been offered as regular to patients other than the wounded in the disaster.
Shortly after Wenchuan earthquake, the leader group of the West China Second Hospital accurately defined the role of the hospital during the medical rescue work and ensured the safety of the inpatients. It cooperated with West China Hospital, going to the main battlefield to rescue the injured people, congregating the main medical resources to the disaster areas for medical rescue. The model of the hospital was immediately transformed from the regular state into a double-track emergent state. Scientific allocation and dispatch of the resources were ensured to meet the ever-changing demands from all levels of rescue work. Assembling the elite, 12 medical teams and 148 medical staff in all were dispatched to Beichuan, Mianyang, Shifang and Dujiangyan as well as other severe disaster areas. Up to June 2nd, 329 patients from the disaster area had been treated, of whom 132 were admitted into the inpatient department, no one died. Moreover, even during such a period of time, the routine medical service had been offered as regular to patients other than the wounded in the disaster.
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.
A 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit china again, 702 days after Wenchuan Earthquake at Yushu prefecture of Qinghai province, 4000 meters above sea level. Up to April 19th, the death toll climbed to 1706, with 256 missing and 12128 injured. West China Hospital, as a regional state-level hospital of Ministry of Health, organized the first batch of medical team with relief supplies at the first day after Yushu earthquake and rushed to Yushu taking part into the rescue effort in golden seventy-two hours. The second day after Yushu earthquake, medical apparatus and drugs valued 5,000,000 RMB were delivered to the rescue site and the second batch of medical team were positioned. Within thirty three hours after the earthquake, 102 people, including 93 earthquake related injuries and 9 armed police with severe altitude illness, were sent to our hospital by air in four batches successively. Based on the first-hand experience of medical rescue in Wenchuan Earthquake, a series of diagnosis and treatment criteria which were built and developed with evidence-based method, and “four concentration principles”, namely concentrating the wounded, concentrating the experts, concentrating resources, and concentrating treatments, our medical rescue in Yushu earthquake were carried out appropriately. Up to 12 am., April 19th, 93 cases from the disaster area have been treated, of whom 54 seriously wounded, 58 underwent operations and none death. The experience learnt from Wenchuan Earthquake have been used, improved and sublimated more rapidly, more appropriately, more effectively in the Yushu earthquake medical rescue.
During the medical rescue after Wenchuan earthquake, the Department of Appliances and Materials of West China Hospital took prompt action to ensure the regular operation of hospital devices and facilities. Meanwhile, owing to its specialized superiority of material and appliance purchase as well as the optimized processes for material and appliance supply, the hospital ensured the effective supply of disaster relief materials and efficiently managed the consumption of donated materials. From May 12 to 30, a total of 2 200 000 pieces of medical materials (total value RMB 3 770 000 Yuan) and 220 sets of medical appliance (total value RMB 9 000 000 Yuan) were purchased as part of the immediate medical rescue response to the earthquake.
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.
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.
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.
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.