Emergency Medical Team Type 2 and Intensive Care Unit: A Necessary Binomial

Abstract

Introduction:A disaster involving significant casualties in a populated area demands the rapid development of a field hospital with personnel specialized in Disaster Medicine. In this scenario, the clinical response of Emergency Medical Teams should be guided by the knowledge of how the medical needs of the population change after the disaster itself. In order to reduce the loss of life and prevent long-term disability, it is essential to have the right tools to treat critical patients. In fact, disasters cause a variety of conditions ranging from minor to life-threatening injuries requiring admission to Intensive Care Unit (ICU).Method:A systematic review was carried out and electronic healthcare databases were searched using terms such as “Disaster” or “Flood” or “Storm” or “Earthquake” or “Mass Casualty Incidents” and “Intensive Care Unit” or “Intensive Care” or “Health Impact”. Articles that met the search criteria, published in the last 15 years in the English language, were analyzed and summarized. The objective of the review was to identify the main health problems following disasters and, in particular, the diseases that may require intensive care in order to assess the need to include ICU in the minimum technical standard for Emergency Medical Teams type 2.Results:The review included 12 studies identified as relevant and significant for our purpose. Health problems were sorted for disaster type and severity of the injury. The review demonstrates that health problems after a disaster are different depending on disaster type, but in all the scenarios there are diseases that potentially may require timely intensive care.Conclusion:The presence of an ICU within an Emergency Medical Team type 2 (according to WHO EMT classification) is an essential part of disaster management plans as ICU plays an irreplaceable role in saving lives and in reducing the health impact of a disaster.