To investigate the differences between doctor helicopters (DHs) and disaster medical assistance teams (DMATs) based on past examples and the current situation in Shizuoka Prefecture.

First, we examined cases in Shizuoka Prefecture from 2014 to 2023, where incidents involving five or more injured individuals were simultaneously managed using multiple DHs. Next, we investigated the presence of DMATs in Shizuoka Prefecture and assessed their role in disaster responses within the prefecture.

Since 2014, there have been eight incidents in Shizuoka Prefecture where multiple DHs were deployed to respond to mass casualties. In contrast, Shizuoka DMATs were placed on standby three times during the same period, with one active deployment during a disaster caused by a landslide in Atami. The other two cases were managed solely by DHs and ambulance teams.

Localized disasters in Shizuoka Prefecture have seen the effective use of multiple DHs for timely patient transportation, particularly when suitable weather conditions permit. In contrast, DMATs are primarily deployed for extended medical activities lasting more than one day. This differentiation highlights the importance of choosing the appropriate medical response approach based on the nature and scope of the disaster.

To perform a scoping review identifying the criteria for the deployment of the United States National Guard (USNG) to domestic sudden-onset natural disasters to identify the body of literature on which further research and policy decisions may be based.

On January 23, 2023 authors performed a search to identify texts relevant to the involvement of the USNG response to sudden-onset domestic natural disasters. English language texts from any year were considered. Independent reviewers screened titles and abstracts, then full-texts, then extracted data from included texts.

From 886 search results, 34 texts were included. Fifteen criteria for USNG deployment were identified. Lack of security, power failure, and logistical coordination were the most common criteria. Hurricanes were the most common disaster type in the included results.

Disaster response coordinators may use these results to develop policies optimizing the use of the USNG in disaster response.

Asymmetric warfare, conflict and terrorist attacks involving children raise concerns regarding the preparedness to respond to mass casualty incidents involving pediatric patients. The objective of this project was to assess the resources available in the metropolitan Milan area to develop a priority dispatch plan for a mass casualty incident with pediatric patients.

A focused search of the medical literature and clinical guidelines established a minimal standard requirements of care of pediatric patients involved in an MCI to determine the surge capabilities in terms of number of patients and severity of injuries for each study hospital in the metropolitan Milan area.

The hospitals that took part in the study were either adult trauma centers or pediatric hospitals in the metropolitan Milan area. The overall surge capability identified was of 40-44 pediatric patients involved in an MCI involving pediatric patients, distributed based on age and severity and based on the hospital resources and expertise.

The findings from the metropolitan Milan area shows the basis for non-Pediatric Trauma Center adult and pediatric hospitals to work in synergy to develop MCI response plans involving pediatric patients. Simulations exercises will need to be carried out to evaluate and validate the plans.

Despite the global expansion of electronic medical record (EMR) systems and their increased integration with artificial intelligence (AI), their utilization in disaster settings remains limited, and few studies have evaluated their implementation. We aimed to evaluate Fast Electronic Medical Record (fEMR), a novel, mobile EMR designed for resource-limited settings, based on user feedback.

We examined usage data through October 2022 to categorize the nature of its use for disaster response and determine the number of patients served. We conducted interviews with stakeholders and gathered input from clinicians who had experience using fEMR.

Over eight years, fEMR was employed 60 times in 11 countries across four continents by 14 organizations (universities, non-profits, and disaster response teams). This involved 37,500+ patient encounters in diverse settings including migrant camps at the US-Mexico and Poland-Ukraine borders, mobile health clinics in Kenya and Guatemala, and post-earthquake relief in Haiti. User feedback highlighted adaptability, but suggested hardware and workflow improvements.

EMR systems have the potential to enhance healthcare delivery in humanitarian responses, offer valuable data for planning and preparedness, and support measurement of effectiveness. As a simple, versatile EMR system, fEMR has been deployed to numerous disaster response and low-income settings.

Caregivers are responsible for the in-home care of children with chronic medical conditions (CMCs) and may have care-related questions in order to support the child’s higher quality of life. We propose using a digital health platform, the personal health library (PHL), facilitating collection, organization, utilization, storage, and retrieval of health information, that will allow us to develop an mHealth smartphone app to facilitate patient/caregiver engagement and self-care management of children with CMCs.

Pilot Application of the PHL in the Pediatric Chronic Medical Conditions Population: We will design the PHL to collect and integrate data from health and non-health information, in various formats and modalities, including 1) Parent/caregiver-reported data; 2) Clinical data and; 3) Social determinants of health (SDoH) data; 4) Observations of Daily Living (ODL) data including the PedsQL Parent Questionnaire and the Functional Status Scale. The app will be customized to provide information regarding training in post-acute hospitalization care and deliver information on troubleshooting medical technology care, i.e. tracheostomy care.

We expect that the design of the PHL application will ultimately provide a layer of support for parents and caregivers of children with CMCs for whom home health is not available following hospitalization.

Hemorrhage control, triage efficiency, and triage accuracy are essential skills for optimal outcomes in mass casualty incidents. This study evaluated user application of skills through a Virtual Reality (VR) simulation of a subway bombing.

EMS clinicians and healthcare professionals engaged in a VR simulation of a bomb/blast scenario utilizing VRFirstResponder, a high-fidelity, fully immersive, automated, customizable, and programmable VR simulation platform. Metrics including time to control life-threatening hemorrhage and triage efficacy were analyzed using median and interquartile ranges (IQR).

389 EMS responders engaged in this high-fidelity VR simulation encountering 11 virtual patients with varying injury severity. The median time to triage the scene was 7:38 minutes (SD = 2:27, IQR = 6:13, 8:59). A robust 93% of participants successfully implemented all required hemorrhage control, with a median time of 3:51 minutes for life-threatening hemorrhage control (SD = 1:44, IQR = 2:41, 4:52). Hemorrhage control per patient took a median of 11 seconds (SD = 0:47, IQR = 0:06, 0:20). Participants accurately tagged 73% of patients and 17% effectively utilized the SALT sort commands for optimal patient evaluation.

The VRFirstResponder simulation, currently under validation, aims to enhance realism by incorporating distractors and refining assessment tools.

The objective of this study was to determine what factors are associated with behavioral health in veterinary disaster responders.

An online cross-sectional survey was distributed via snowball sampling. Results were analyzed using chi-square analyses.

Responses from 237 veterinarians were analyzed. Being involved in more than 1 disaster event was associated with higher anxiety and/or depression (43.4% vs 28.6%, respectively), difficulty with relationships (28.1% vs 14.3%, respectively), and a greater prevalence of sleep problems (44.6% vs 28.0%, respectively) compared to only being involved in 1 event. Veterinarians that were deployed longer than 2 months had the highest prevalence of anxiety and/or depression (43.9%) and sleep problems (50.0%). Veterinarians that received behavioral health training before deployment had lower rates of anxiety and/or depression (27.8% vs 42.9%, respectively) compared to those who did not receive training. Respondents involved with depopulation had the highest rates of anxiety and/or depression (66.7%) and sleep problems (58.1%).

Factors associated with behavioral health outcomes included the number and length of deployments, receiving behavioral health training, and being involved in depopulation. To reduce the risk of behavioral health outcomes, interventions such as time-off and behavioral health support are needed.