Advanced Disaster Medical Response Manual for Providers - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0972377204 ISBN 13: 9780972377201

Publisher: Harvard Medical Intl, 2003

Synopsis

Advanced Disaster Medical Response is designed to train health care providers to respond to natural and manmade disasters as well as disasters caused by weapons of mass destruction. It is 199 pages with full-color photos and illustrations. Twenty-five chapters divided into nine sections cover:

Mass Casualty Incident Management
Incident Command Structure
Medical Response to Disasters
Weapons of Mass Destruction
Public Health Response to Disasters
Decontamination
Medical Response to Terrorism
Care of Specific Injuries in Disasters
Environmental Considerations
Special Considerations (including Psychological Aspects of Disasters and Care of the Dead and their Families)

About this title

From the Publisher

Funding for Advanced Disaster Medical Response was generously provided by the Flatley Company.

From the Inside Flap

Introduction

Disasters follow no rules. No one can predict the complexity, time, or location of the next disaster. Traditionally, medical providers have held the erroneous belief that all disasters are different, especially those involving terrorism. Thus, one of the most significant problems in mass casualty management is that we do not prepare for disasters; we respond to them. In reality, all disasters, regardless of etiology, have similar medical and public health consequences. Disasters differ in the degree to which these consequences occur and disrupt the normal medical and non-medical infrastructure of the disaster scene.

Disaster medical care is significantly different from the care medical providers deliver on a daily basis. The key principle of disaster medical care is to do the greatest good for the greatest number of patients, while the objective of conventional medical care is to do the greatest good for the individual patient.

Disasters, both natural and man-made (including terrorism), encompass the spectrum of possible threats. Terrorism, not surprisingly, is the most challenging for medical providers. Weapons of mass destruction creating "contaminated environments" are the greatest challenge of all.

A consistent medical approach to disasters, based on an understanding of their common features and the response expertise they require, is becoming the accepted practice throughout the world. This strategy, called the Mass Casualty Incident (MCI) response, has the primary objective of reducing the mortality caused by the disaster. All medical personnel need to incorporate the key principles of the MCI response in their training, given the complexity of today’s disasters.

Edition details

• Publisher: Harvard Medical Intl
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0972377204
• ISBN 13: 9780972377201
• Binding: Spiral-bound
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 199
• Editor: Briggs Susan M., Brinsfield Kathryn H.