ABSTRACT
During the last 12 years, public and private sector organizations have given much attention to the general area of earthquake loss estimation, but litte attention to the more estimation of earthquake casualties. This paper presents specific results from phase ane our research program aimed at developing a regional earthquake casulaty estimation process for the new madrid Seismic Zone and for other US Regions (AU)
Subject(s)
Earthquakes , Risk Assessment , United StatesABSTRACT
The Santa Cruz county 9-1-1 emergency response system wastaxed severely with over 1.000 calls during the first seven hours following the Loma Prieta earthquake. It remained functional and responsive making 229 ambulance runs in the 72-hour period following the earthquake. Initially the demand was very high compared to normal, but decreased to slighty greater that normal levels during the second day. The 9-1-1 center adopted an abbreviated procedure and only attemped to determine if the call was a medical emergency and the location for dispatch. Based on this experience, a re vised 9-1-1 emergency medical services (EMS) procedure is recommended for disaster periods 1) the dispacher inquires whether the patient can be transported by other means 2) the caller is asked to explain the need for an ambulance in order to assign a priority to the request; its and 3) the caller is asked to cancel the call if there no longer is a need. This procedure is expected to improve disaster management of limited ambulance resources during and following a disaster, while maintaining rapid call processing (AU)
Subject(s)
Earthquakes , Disaster Planning , Hotlines , Emergency Medical Services , Wounds and Injuries , AmbulancesABSTRACT
On 16 July 1990, an earthquake measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale struck the island of Luzon, Philippines. A case-control study was carried out to identify the risk factors for earthquake-related injuries and at the same time observations were made on the rescue efforts. Being hit by falling objects was the leading cause of injury (34
). Those injured during the tremor were more likely to have been inside buildings constructed of concrete or mixed materials (odds ratio, 2.6; 95
confidence interval (CI), 1.7-4.1) and to have been on the middle floors of multistorey buildings (odds ratio, 3.4; 95
CI, 2.2-5.5). Leaving a building during the earthquake was a protective behaviour (odds ratio, 0.3; 95
CI, 0.2-0.8). Of the 235 survivors who were trapped and rescued alive from the rubble, 99
were rescued within 48 hours of the impact of the tremor. These findings should prove useful in developing seismic safety codes. People should be taught proper evasive actions to take during earthquakes, and training in basic first aid and methods of rescue should be an integral part pf community preparedness programmes.(AU)
