Emergency Medicine in Disasters / 한양의대학술지

Disaster medicine and emergency medicine are common in many parts, particularly in the acute stage of disaster, so the role of emergency medicine in disaster is very important. For adequate disaster preparation and response, interest and investment to emergency medical care for emergency and safety issues that deal with most important thing, life conservation, must be made in the future. Specifically, support to the emergency medical centers as disaster base hospitals is necessary for emergency medicine to perform adequate roles in disaster, and it is also necessary to assign the role to the hospital in the area that holds the local risk factors. Because of the poor preparedness for nuclear, chemical or biological disaster in Korea, the important things are the preparation and establishment of infrastructure based on equipment and facilities, related to special type disasters. So the government should support the emergency medical system for the adequate response to disasters as well as individual emergency care.

Principles and system of disaster medicine

For adequate disaster preparation and response, the capacity of various sectors should be integrated harmoniously into a single system. Investment must be made in disaster medical care for emergencies and safety issues that address the most important priority - conservation of life. Specifically, support for disaster base hospital is necessary for a hospital to perform an adequate role in disaster, and it is also necessary to assign the role of disaster base hospital to hospitals in areas that contain local risk factor. Because of the problems for nuclear, chemical or biological disaster preparedness in Korea, important things to consider are the preparation and establishment of an infrastructure based on equipment and facilities, including personal protective equipment, decontamination equipment and facilities. Governments should support the operation of disaster medical assistance teams in order to improve the disaster medical system.

Experiences and lessons of the disaster medical assistance in Korea

In the cases of two important disasters that occurred in Korea in 2014, it was important to spread information early and to respond systematically for rapid utilization of disaster medical resources. Initial response units such as fire and police departments should deliver disaster medical information to disaster medical units and systems to facilitate the rapid response of disaster medical resources. When considering disaster medical situations in Korea, the size of a disaster medical assistance team should be smaller compared to the United States for an effective domestic disaster medical response. In addition, regional disaster manuals or guidelines should be accepted in place of instructions from the central government for detailed disaster medical response in each disaster region, and repeated disaster drills that include related organizations should be performed. The provision of institutional strategy is needed to support the basis of on-site disaster medical assistance activities and the existence of disaster medical assistance team.