Introduction:Medical responders are at-risk of experiencing a wide range of negative psychological health conditions following a disaster.Aim:Published literature was reviewed on the adverse psychological health outcomes in medical responders to various disasters and mass casualties in order to: (1) assess the psychological impact of disasters on medical responders; and (2) identify the possible risk factors associated with psychological impacts on medical responders.Methods:A literature search of PubMed, Discovery Service, Science Direct, Google Scholar, and Cochrane databases for studies on the prevalence/risk factors of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental disorders in medical responders of disasters and mass casualties was carried out using pre-determined keywords. Two reviewers screened the 3,545 abstracts and 28 full-length articles which were included for final review.Results:Depression and PTSD were the most studied outcomes in medical responders. Nurses reported higher levels of adverse outcomes than physicians. Lack of social support and communication, maladaptive coping, and lack of training were important risk factors for developing negative psychological outcomes across all types of disasters.Conclusions:Disasters have significant adverse effects on the mental well-being of medical responders. The prevalence rates and presumptive risk factors varied among three different types of disasters. There are certain high-risk, vulnerable groups among medical responders, as well as certain risk factors for adverse psychological outcomes. Adapting preventive measures and mitigation strategies aimed at high-risk groups would be beneficial in decreasing negative outcomes.

Table of contentsP001 - Sepsis impairs the capillary response within hypoxic capillaries and decreases erythrocyte oxygen-dependent ATP effluxR. M. Bateman, M. D. Sharpe, J. E. Jagger, C. G. EllisP002 - Lower serum immunoglobulin G2 level does not predispose to severe flu.J. Solé-Violán, M. López-Rodríguez, E. Herrera-Ramos, J. Ruíz-Hernández, L. Borderías, J. Horcajada, N. González-Quevedo, O. Rajas, M. Briones, F. Rodríguez de Castro, C. Rodríguez GallegoP003 - Brain protective effects of intravenous immunoglobulin through inhibition of complement activation and apoptosis in a rat model of sepsisF. Esen, G. Orhun, P. Ergin Ozcan, E. Senturk, C. Ugur Yilmaz, N. Orhan, N. Arican, M. Kaya, M. Kucukerden, M. Giris, U. Akcan, S. Bilgic Gazioglu, E. TuzunP004 - Adenosine a1 receptor dysfunction is associated with leukopenia: A possible mechanism for sepsis-induced leukopeniaR. Riff, O. Naamani, A. DouvdevaniP005 - Analysis of neutrophil by hyper spectral imaging - A preliminary reportR. Takegawa, H. Yoshida, T. Hirose, N. Yamamoto, H. Hagiya, M. Ojima, Y. Akeda, O. Tasaki, K. Tomono, T. ShimazuP006 - Chemiluminescent intensity assessed by eaa predicts the incidence of postoperative infectious complications following gastrointestinal surgeryS. Ono, T. Kubo, S. Suda, T. Ueno, T. IkedaP007 - Serial change of c1 inhibitor in patients with sepsis – A prospective observational studyT. Hirose, H. Ogura, H. Takahashi, M. Ojima, J. Kang, Y. Nakamura, T. Kojima, T. ShimazuP008 - Comparison of bacteremia and sepsis on sepsis related biomarkersT. Ikeda, S. Suda, Y. Izutani, T. Ueno, S. OnoP009 - The changes of procalcitonin levels in critical patients with abdominal septic shock during blood purificationT. Taniguchi, M. OP010 - Validation of a new sensitive point of care device for rapid measurement of procalcitoninC. Dinter, J. Lotz, B. Eilers, C. Wissmann, R. LottP011 - Infection biomarkers in primary care patients with acute respiratory tract infections – Comparison of procalcitonin and C-reactive proteinM. M. Meili, P. S. SchuetzP012 - Do we need a lower procalcitonin cut off?H. Hawa, M. Sharshir, M. Aburageila, N. SalahuddinP013 - The predictive role of C-reactive protein and procalcitonin biomarkers in central nervous system infections with extensively drug resistant bacteriaV. Chantziara, S. Georgiou, A. Tsimogianni, P. Alexandropoulos, A. Vassi, F. Lagiou, M. Valta, G. Micha, E. Chinou, G. MichaloudisP014 - Changes in endotoxin activity assay and procalcitonin levels after direct hemoperfusion with polymyxin-b immobilized fiberA. Kodaira, T. Ikeda, S. Ono, T. Ueno, S. Suda, Y. Izutani, H. ImaizumiP015 - Diagnostic usefullness of combination biomarkers on ICU admissionM. V. De la Torre-Prados, A. Garcia-De la Torre, A. Enguix-Armada, A. Puerto-Morlan, V. Perez-Valero, A. Garcia-AlcantaraP016 - Platelet function analysis utilising the PFA-100 does not predict infection, bacteraemia, sepsis or outcome in critically ill patientsN. Bolton, J. Dudziak, S. Bonney, A. Tridente, P. NeeP017 - Extracellular histone H3 levels are in...

Background: Chest pain is a common symptom in patients visiting the emergency department (ED). Diagnosing acute coronary syndrome is a challenging task for emergency physicians. Evaluation of chest pain depends on clinical symptoms and signs, ECG, and cardiac enzymes. Here, we aimed to compare the diagnostic performance of the point-of-care troponin I assay with laboratory HsTnT assay in patients presenting to the ED with chest pain. Methods: A prospective study was done at the ED of Alkhor Hospital, Hamad Medical Corporation, between March 2016 and December 2016. Patients more than 18 years old who presented to the ED with chest pain were enrolled. Patients with renal failure, initial ECG showing ST-elevation MI, or arrhythmias, and hemodynamically unstable patients were excluded. A blood sample was collected at 0 and 3 hours post-admission for POC TnI and laboratory HsTnT assay. The sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, and AUC were determined and compared. Results: Out of 313 patients enrolled, ten were excluded. At 0 hour, the POC TnI assay had a lower sensitivity (72.5% versus 97.5%) and had almost equal specificity (99.24% versus 93.2%) when compared to lab HsTnT assay. At 3 hours post-admission, the sensitivity increased to 95% versus 100%, and specificity was 100% versus 94.3% when compared to lab HsTnT. The POC TnI assay had a higher PPV than HsTnT, whereas both assays showed a high NPV at 0 and 3 hours. Conclusion: Although the diagnostic performance of POC TnI was lower than that of Lab HsTnT at 0 hour, at 3 hours post-admission, the diagnostic performance was almost equal to that of HsTnT. Hence we conclude that chest pain in patients with a negative POC TnI at 3 hours post-admission is unlikely to be due to NSTEMI.

Purpose We aimed to determine the incidence of venous thromboembolism among hospitalized patients in Qatar as well as to analyze the adequacy of VTE assessment and prophylaxis in hospitalized patients. Design Retrospective observational study. Setting Four hospitals under Hamad Medical Corporation, Qatar. Participants Patients over the age of 18 who were hospitalized between January 2015 and December 2019 and developed venous thromboembolism during hospitalization or within a month after discharge were included. Results During the study period, 641,994 individuals were admitted to hospitals. The inclusion criteria were satisfied by 209 of them. The mean age was 51.25 years and 54.5% were males. Hypertension and diabetes mellitus were the most common comorbidities found in the overall group. The incidence of VTE was 32.55 [95% CI 28.4, 37.3] per 100,000 admission per year [0.032%]. The annual incidence was least in 2015 (17.8 per 100,000 admissions) and highest in 2018 (44.4 per 100,000 admissions). Eighty-six subjects had DVT, and 109 had PE, whereas 14 had both. And, 67.5% of the patients developed VTE during admission while, 32.5% developed within 1 month of discharge. Moreover, 22.9% of the patients with PE developed pulmonary embolism after discharge from the hospital. VTE assessment was performed on 64.7% of the patients, and 69.7% received VTE prophylaxis in accordance with guidelines. Conclusion Although the occurrence of VTE among hospitalized patients in Qatar is low, healthcare providers need additional education and knowledge of VTE assessment and prophylaxis to follow guidelines for all patients at the time of admission. Furthermore, risk assessment for VTE should be done for all patients at the time of discharge to decide on post-discharge prophylaxis so that incidence of VTE after discharge can be minimized. Future studies should focus on patients who developed VTE after discharge from the hospital as well as on various risk factors.

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