Medical emergencies aftermath

By definition, most patients who suffer a serious TBI present to an emergency room in the immediate aftermath of the traumatic event. However, patients may also be brought to medical attention days or even weeks after an apparently mild head injury when the symptoms are delayed or so subtle that they initially escaped detection. In some instances, patients may even visit a clinic unaware that their psychiatric symptoms are attributable to a remote head injury. One extreme example is so-called dementia pugilistica that occurs after years of repeated minor TBIs over the course of a boxer s career. 

In the civilian setting, natural disasters such as tornadoes, hurricanes, fires, and explosions produce large numbers of casualties that cannot be treated immediately in emergency rooms and hospitals. A delay in medical treatment in the aftermath of disasters is often not available to remote geographic locations due to long distances from facilities, loss of power and essential services, or just the huge numbers involved and the enormity of the situation. 

At the acute stage of the aftermath of a biological or chemical terrorist attack, acute autonomic arousal and panic may result in both the victims and the emergency responders (Hazmat teams, police, fire, medical) incapacitating the assistance infrastructure. The severity of these anticipated... 

Engineering support is critical to health-care providers, initially in terms of damage assessment and operational advice, in the immediate aftermath of earthquakes, as decisions are made on the least risk-prone facilities in which to conduct emergency medical care and whether evacuations are required fi om possibly damaged facilities. 

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