Airway Breathing Circulation: An Emergency Medicine Resident’s Experience of the Beirut Explosion

Abdul-Nabi, Sarah S.; Sawaya, Rasha

doi:10.1111/acem.14147

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 15 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This review complements recent reports (7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18) and further provide an in-depth analysis of the Beirut blast and its health and environmental implications, and suggests actionable recommendations and strategies.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 65%

Beirut Ammonium Nitrate Blast: Analysis, Review, and Recommendations

Al-Hajj

Dhaini

Mondello

et al. 2021

Front. Public Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A massive chemical detonation occurred on August 4, 2020 in the Port of Beirut, Lebanon. An uncontrolled fire in an adjacent warehouse ignited ~2,750 tons of Ammonium Nitrate (AN), producing one of the most devastating blasts in recent history. The blast supersonic pressure and heat wave claimed the lives of 220 people and injured more than 6,500 instantaneously, with severe damage to the nearby dense residential and commercial areas. This review represents one of the in-depth reports to provide a detailed analysis of the Beirut blast and its health and environmental implications. It further reviews prior AN incidents and suggests actionable recommendations and strategies to optimize chemical safety measures, improve emergency preparedness, and mitigate the delayed clinical effects of blast and toxic gas exposures. These recommended actionable steps offer a starting point for government officials and policymakers to build frameworks, adopt regulations, and implement chemical safety protocols to ensure safe storage of hazardous materials as well as reorganizing healthcare system disaster preparedness to improve emergency preparedness in response to similar large-scale disasters and promote population safety. Future clinical efforts should involve detailed assessment of physical injuries sustained by blast victims, with systemic mitigation and possible treatment of late blast effects involving individuals, communities and the region at large.

show abstract

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 65%

Beirut Ammonium Nitrate Blast: Analysis, Review, and Recommendations

Al-Hajj

Dhaini

Mondello

et al. 2021

Front. Public Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The accurate number of the patients who presented to AUBMC could not be recorded for multiple reasons, among which are that our facilities were affected by the blast and the registration process of the ED crashed due to the massive surge of patients flooding into it. [14,15] We conducted this study to evaluate the psychological disturbances of the survivors of the Beirut Port explosion who presented to the ED of AUBMC. The study findings showed a negative association between the participants' age (aOR = 0.968, P = .05, 95%CI [0.931, 1.000]) and the PCL-5 score.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the psychological impact of Beirut Port blast: A cross-sectional study

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Beirut Port blast’s magnitude is considered the third after Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings. This blast occurred in the densely populated section of Beirut, leaving more than six thousand injured patients. The psychological disturbances were assessed in the blast survivors who presented to the Emergency Department (ED) at the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC). This was a cross-sectional study at the ED of AUBMC. Identified patients were contacted and consented to participate in the study. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) was selected as an outcome. Depression, PTSD, and concussion were assessed using patient health questionnaire (PHQ)-9, PTSD checklist for DSM-5 (PCL5), and brain injury symptoms (BISx) tools, respectively. The association of patients and injury characteristics with the study outcome was assessed using logistic regression. 145 participants completed the study procedures. The participants’ average age was 39.8 ± 15.4 years, and 60% were males. Almost half of the participants showed depression on PHQ, and 2-thirds had PTSD. The participant’s age was negatively associated with PTSD, whereas being a female, having depression, and having a concussion were positively associated with PTSD. The results of this study were in line with the previous literature report except for the association between younger age and PTSD, which warrants further investigations to delineate the reasons.

show abstract

“… 2 Since August, the country faced a surge in the COVID-19 cases number reaching around 1500–2000 daily cases in mid-December. 3 …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2 Since August, the country faced a surge in the COVID-19 cases number reaching around 1500-2000 daily cases in mid-December. 3 On August 4, 2020, Beirut, Lebanon's capital witnessed one of the most intense non-nuclear explosions in history. An estimated 2750 tons of ammonium nitrate that were deposited in the city port exploded shortly after 6:00 PM local time, causing at least 204 casualties, 6500 injuries, and US $15 billion in property damage, leaving an estimated 300 000 people homeless.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%