Problems of Immediate Medical Care at Taipei Community Hospitals During Typhoon Nari, 2001

Abstract

during the past 15 years, on islands existing in the Pacific Ocean under jurisdiction of Tokyo from which the residents were forced to evacuate. Fortunately, there were <50 injuries related to these explosions. However, it still is important to construct an aero-transportation and a telemedical support system for the residents. Methods: 1) 93 injured patients were aerotransported from the islands to our hospital between January 2000 to September 2001. The relationship of the injury severity, time of aerotransportaion, and prognosis were analyzed; 2) 654 tele-communicated injured patients from these islands were analyzed. Results: The AIS grading and the ISS were examined against the transportation times, and little difference was noticed, even though the heliport located on top of the hospital was used for the severely injured. The frequency of the use of telecommunication for injured patients increased after improvements in the infrastructure. Consultation based upon CT scans also increased in number. Conclusion: The time lag to flight must be shortened for the severely injured cases. Infrastructure improvement is important to build a well-used telemedical network. Advocation in the application of the telemedical control to the helicopter attending doctors and paramedics is required.

Strategies of Disaster Response in the Health Care System for Tropical Cyclones: Experience Following Typhoon Nari in Taipei City

“…During the acute phase of this disaster, most patients who sought medical help suffered from limb injuries. 5 This was similar to the pattern of injuries from other kinds of natural disasters. 12 However, during Typhoon Nari, the flood caused a significant number of drownings and mudslide injuries.…”

“…From September 16 through 19, 18 hospitals in Taipei documented 172 casualties directly due to the typhoon. 5 It resulted in 27 deaths, five people missing, 145 minor injuries, one million households without power, and 500,000 households without water. Island-wide, 8,600 people were evacuated during the initial impact of the storm.…”

“…Injuries are shown in Table 1. 5 The health care system in Taipei was seriously damaged. There were 11 hospitals damaged by storminduced flooding, which left them in vulnerable conditions requiring evacuation.…”