Medical Support for Aircraft Disaster Search and Recovery Operations at Sea: the RSN Experience

Abstract

The maritime environment presents a unique set of challenges to search and recovery (SAR) operations. There is a paucity of information available to guide provision of medical support for SAR operations for aircraft disasters at sea. The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) took part in two such SAR operations in 2014 which showcased the value of a military organization in these operations. Key considerations in medical support for similar operations include the resultant casualty profile and challenges specific to the maritime environment, such as large distances of area of operations from land, variable sea states, and space limitations. Medical support planning can be approached using well-established disaster management life cycle phases of preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery, which all are described in detail. This includes key areas of dedicated training and exercises, force protection, availability of air assets and chamber support, psychological care, and the forensic handling of human remains. Relevant lessons learned by RSN from the Air Asia QZ8501 search operation are also included in the description of these key areas. Teo KAC , Chong TFG , Liow MHL , Tang KC . Medical support for aircraft disaster search and recovery operations at sea: the RSN experience. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2016; 31(3):294-299.

The Influence of Orthographic Neighborhood Density and Word Frequency on Visual Word Recognition: Insights from RT Distributional Analyses

“…Second, and more important, the distributional analyses revealed a density x frequency interaction which was primarily attributable to differential shifting and skewing of the latency distribution between low- and high-density words as a function of frequency. For low-frequency words, the density effect obtained, replicating Andrews' ( 1989 , 1992 ) finding, and the effect was predominantly mediated by distributional shifting; for high-frequency words, the small density effect observed was primarily mediated by distributional skewing.…”

“…The present hypothesis was that facilitatory effects of density would be observed, but only for low-frequency words (cf. Michie et al, 1994 ; Andrews, 1989 , 1992 ; Sears et al, 1995 ). The second, and more important, goal was to extend the ex-Gaussian and Vincentile analyses techniques to the orthographic neighborhood density and word frequency effects found in the extant visual lexical decision studies, and to explore the extent to which these two effects are driven by distributional shifting and skewing.…”

“…The researchers then attributed N effects on non-word classification to a decision mechanism that is sensitive to the overall lexical activation. Subsequently, Andrews ( 1989 ) reported that N actually influenced responses to English words in the LDT when the words were selected to orthogonally manipulate N and word frequency. Specifically, it was reported that high N facilitated performance for words, but only for the 4-letter low-frequency words.…”

“…In this study, we pursued two goals. The first was to replicate the N effects in the visual LDT in the light of the initial contradictory reports (see Coltheart et al, 1977 ; Andrews, 1989 , 1992 ; Grainger et al, 1989 ). The present hypothesis was that facilitatory effects of density would be observed, but only for low-frequency words (cf.…”

Water search and rescue (SAR) for ship accidents in China: analysis of 12 years’ data

“…The training for basic life support (BLS), wound suture, and fracture splint fixation for Chinese SAR staff also does not meet the needs for maritime and aquatic medical rescue duty ( 16 , 20 ). For example, severely injured persons in distress urgently require ACLS to save their lives at the scene, including securing the airway by endotracheal intubation, hindering exsanguination, inserting intravenous lines, and initiating fluid resuscitation therapy ( 15 , 35 , 36 ). Thus, more and better training of SAR staff in China is urgently needed to improve the medical emergency capabilities of rescue personnel.…”