Emergency Care Center: The Next Level of Preparedness when there is No Doctor - Natural Disaster, Infectious Disease (H5N1 - Pandemic Influenza), Large Scale Incidents.
In a large scale incident where hospitals and health care professionals are overwhelmed, people would be on their own to provide self care. The Online Emergency Care Center was set up as an educational resource to address the challenge of diagnosis and treatment of common medical problems and diseases, giving special emphasis to prevention.
Milford, CT (PRWEB) March 3, 2006
The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, known by the scientific community as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake, was an undersea earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC (07:58:53 local time) on December 26, 2004. According to Wikipedia, the tsunami generated by the earthquake killed approximately 275,000 people, making it one of the deadliest disasters in modern history.
During a recent Combat/Field Medicine training program (www. medicalcorps. org), a video presentation focused on three young people from the United States who were working at orphanages in Indonesia, when the tsunami hit. With no medical experience or training, they gathered medical supplies, obtained permission to enter the impacted region and found themselves in charge of hospital clinics with the full range of medical challenges.
Whether we are looking at the grassroots community level in the United States or a UN member country, a need has been presented for an educational resource that confronts the challenge of medical self care during a large scale incident. In response, Stephen M. Apatow, President, Director of Research and Development at Humanitarian Resource Institute (HRI) organized the "Emergency Care Center" web site in conjunction with the HRI: Global Preparedness and Response Network (www. humanitarian. net/gprn (http://www. humanitarian. net/gprn)). This site is now accessible at:
Www. humanitarian. net/university/med/ecc (http://www. humanitarian. net/university/med/ecc )
Or for easy access, from the main page of the Humanitarian Resource Institute web site (www. humanitarian. net).
Internet based resources include:
Medicine
-- Where There Is No Doctor: Electronic Version. David Werner, Hesperian Foundation.
-- Where There Is No Dentist : Electronic Version. Murray Dickson, Hesperian Foundation.
Translated into over 90 languages, "Where There Is No Doctor" is considered the most accessible and widely used community health care manual in the world. This revolutionary health care "bible" has saved millions of lives around the world by providing vital information on diagnosing and treating common medical problems and diseases, and giving special emphasis to prevention. The book also includes sections detailing effective examination techniques, home cures, correct usage of medicines and their precautions, nutrition, caring for children, ailments of older individuals and first aid. -- U. S. Centers for Disease Control, National Ag Safety Database.
-- The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy.
-- Family Practice Notebook: An ongoing compendium of the diagnosis and management of common medical problems seen in Family Practice.
-- Martindale's: The Virtual Medical Center:
Combat/Field Medicine:
-- Virtual Naval Hospital: A digital library of naval medicine and military medicine and humanitarian medicine.
-- First Aid for Soldiers: Department of the Army.
-- Emergency War Surgery: 3rd U. S. Revision, 2004.
Combat Medicine Lifesaver Course:
Study Materials
-- Combat Lifesaver Course: Buddy-Aid Tasks.
-- Combat Lifesaver Course: Medical Tasks.
-- Presentations and Video Clips: Combat Lifesaver Program, Department of Combat Medic Training.
Note: Combat lifesavers are neither first aid providers nor fully qualified emergency medical technicians. They are a combination of both optimized to provide lifesaving care for trauma and medical emergencies on the battlefield.
Reference:
-- Medical Library & Information Network: U. S. Army Medical Command's Army Medical Department (AMEDD MEDLI-NET).
-- PubMed: A service of the U. S. National Library of Medicine that includes over 16 million citations from MEDLINE and other life science journals for biomedical articles back to the 1950s. PubMed includes links to full text articles and other related resources.
-- Online Medical Dictionary.
Veterinary Medicine:
-- The Merck Veterinary Manual.
Education:
-- Brookside Associates: Medical Education Division develops, produces and distributes medical education materials for use by physicians, nurses, other medical personnel and students preparing for these professions.
-- Medical Corps: Combat / Field Medicine programs, Ohio State University Extension Campus.
This web site will be updated.
Stephen M. Apatow, Founder of the nonprofit organization Humanitarian Resource Institute (www. humanitarian. net), is Director of Research and Development for the Humanitarian University Consortium Graduate Studies Center for Medicine, Veterinary Medicine and Law. Pathobiologics International (www. pathobiologics. org) is the consulting arm of Humanitarian Resource Institute and the Humanitarian University Consortium.
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