RT Book, Section
A1 Mills, Lisa D.
A1 Mills, Trevor J.
A2 Tintinalli, Judith E.
A2 Stapczynski, J. Stephan
A2 Ma, O. John
A2 Yealy, Donald M.
A2 Meckler, Garth D.
A2 Cline, David M.
SR Print(0)
ID 1121492303
T1 Natural Disasters
T2 Tintinalli’s Emergency Medicine: A Comprehensive Study Guide, 8e
YR 2016
FD 2016
PB McGraw-Hill Education
PP New York, NY
SN 9780071794763
LK accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1121492303
RD 2024/04/19
AB Natural  disasters  continue  to  be  an  unpredictable  source  of  worldwide  morbidity  and  mortality  and  present  unique  challenges  for  practitioners  of  emergency  care.  The  2002  to  2011  annual  average  worldwide  mortality  rate  was  107,000  deaths/year  from  natural  disasters,  with  an  average  of  268  million  worldwide  victims  per  year  during  the  same  time  period  and  an  economic  cost  of  $143  billion  in  2012.1  With  the  increase  in  rapidly  mobilized  recovery  teams,  emergency  physicians  are  at  the  forefront  of  patient  care  following  a  natural  disaster.  It  is  here  that  we  can  have  the  greatest  impact  in  treating  survivors  and  minimizing  secondary  morbidity  and  mortality,  often  in  the  setting  of  a  significantly  impaired  healthcare  system.  Research  suggests  that  the  burden  of  natural  disasters  is  likely  to  rise  in  the  coming  years,  due  to  increasing  population  density  in  high-risk  areas  and  risks  associated  with  expanding  technology  (e.g.,  fires  or  earthquakes  in  larger  and  taller  buildings  or  critical  infrastructure).2