Originally published: Utrecht : Van Der Wees, 2000.

Includes bibliographical references.

PART ONE - MEDICAL CARE. Chapter 1 Surgery and traumatology - surgical management of severely injured patients when resources are limited: Introduction; Management in hospital; Head injuries; Chest injuries; Abdominal injuries; Limb injuries; Adapted surgical technologies. Chapter 2 Anaesthesiology and resuscitation: Introduction; The context of anaesthesia in disasters; Patient population; Primary anaesthetic skills; Cardiopulmonary resuscitation; Advanced anaesthetic skills; Logistics; Training and education. Chapter 3 Chemical injuries: Introduction; Mechanism of toxic injury; Medical preparedness plan; Medical action plan; Decontamination; Triage; Medical care at the scene; Management in medical facilities; Disaster follow-up. Chapter 4 Communicable diseases: General overview; Coping with communicable diseases in emergencies; Intervention strategies; Standard activities: tools; Therapeutic approaches; health education; Setting priorities. Chapter 5 Mental health: Introduction; Post-traumatic reactions; Management of the psychological and social component in disasters; Vulnerable groups; Prevention; The cultural aspect of mental health in disasters and complex emergencies. Chapter 6 Radiation injuries: Introduction; Technical considerations; Irradiation accidents; Clinical and biological consequences of exposure to ionising radiation - therapeutic approach; Management and communication during irradiation incidents. PART TWO - PUBLIC HEALTH. Chapter 1 Epidemiology: Disaster epidemiology; Application of epidemiology in disasters; Complex humanitarian disasters. Chapter 2 Environmental health: Introduction; Interaction between a population and its environment; Problems caused by exceptional situations; Water; Environment sanitation; Housing and energy. Chapter 3 Nutrition: Introduction; Nutritional assessment; Determining nutritional requirements; Management of a nutritional emergency; Human resource development. PART THREE - DISASTER MANAGEMENT. Chapter 1 Definition, classification and scoring of disasters: Introduction; Methodology; Discussion; The medical severity index of disasters; Discussion. Chapter 2 Order in the chaos - modelling medical management in disasters: Introduction; The general picture; The turning point between accident and disaster; Capacities in the medical assistance chain; The medical rescue capacity; The medical transport capacity; The hospital treatment capacity; Definition, classification and assessment of disasters; Determination of medical disaster preparedness; Triage and the 1-6 hour period following a disaster. (Part contents).

Technological development has not only provided mankind with more prosperity, but with increased destructive power as well. These developments, combined with an explosive growth of the world population, have led to mass casualty situations, varying from traffic accidents to war. In the 20th Century over 200 million people were killed as a result of man-made disasters --- a figure unequalled in the history of mankind. It is not surprising, therefore, that a new medical discipline has emerged: disaster medicine. The realization that disasters have effects which cross the traditional boundaries of medical specialisms and nationality, led to the foundation of the International Society of Disaster Medicine (ISDM), which issued an international curriculum on education and training in disaster medicine. As a logical consequence the ISDM decided to develop its curriculum into a handbook, now available to the global community of disaster medicine specialists. This Handbook of Disaster Medicine contains contributions from international experts in the field and will be of value and interest to a wide variety of professionals in the discipline of disaster medicine and management.

Jan de Boer, Marcel Dubouloz

Online resource; title from PDF title page (Taylor & Francis, viewed May 20, 2020).

Added to collection customer.56279.3