Levels of neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin in 2 patients with crush syndrome after a mudslide

Progress in the Diagnostic and Predictive Evaluation of Crush Syndrome

Crush syndrome (CS), also known as traumatic rhabdomyolysis, is a syndrome with a wide clinical spectrum; it is caused by external compression, which often occurs in earthquakes, wars, and traffic accidents, especially in large-scale disasters. Crush syndrome is the second leading cause of death after direct trauma in earthquakes. A series of clinical complications caused by crush syndrome, including hyperkalemia, myoglobinuria, and, in particular, acute kidney injury (AKI), is the main cause of death in crush syndrome. The early diagnosis of crush syndrome, the correct evaluation of its severity, and accurate predictions of a poor prognosis can provide personalized suggestions for rescuers to carry out early treatments and reduce mortality. This review summarizes various methods for the diagnostic and predictive evaluation of crush syndrome, including urine dipstick tests for a large number of victims, traditional and emerging biomarkers, imaging-assisted diagnostic methods, and developed evaluation models, with the aim of providing materials for scholars in this research field.

A systematic review of the health impacts of mass Earth movements (landslides)

Background. Mass ground movements (commonly referred to as 'landslides') are common natural hazards that can have significant economic, social and health impacts. They occur as single events, or as clusters, and are often part of 'disaster' chains, occurring secondary to, or acting as the precursor of other disaster events. Whilst there is a large body of literature on the engineering and geological aspects of landslides, the mortality and morbidity caused by landslides is less well documented. As far as we are aware, this is the first systematic review to examine the health impacts of landslides. Methods. The MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, SCOPUS databases and the Cochrane library were systematically searched to identify articles which considered the health impacts of landslides. Case studies, case series, primary research and systematic reviews were included. News reports, editorials and non-systematic reviews were excluded. Only articles in English were considered. The references of retrieved papers were searched to identify additional articles. Findings. 913 abstracts were reviewed and 143 full text articles selected for review. A total of 27 papers reporting research studies were included in the review (25 from initial search, 1 from review of references and 1 from personal correspondence). We found a limited number of studies on the physical health consequences of landslides. Only one study provided detail of the causes of mortality and morbidity in relation a landslide event. Landslides cause significant mental health impacts, in particular the prevalence of PTSD may be higher after landslides than other types of disaster, though these studies tend to be older with only 3 papers published in the last 5 years, with 2 being published 20 years ago, and diagnostic criteria have changed since they were produced. Discussion. We were disappointed at the small number of relevant studies, and the generally poor documentation of the health impacts of landslides. Mental health impacts were better documented, though some of the studies are now quite old. Further research on the health impacts of landslides needs to be undertaken to support those responding to landslide disasters and to aid disaster risk mitigation advocacy.

Point-of-Care Testing at the Disaster-Emergency-Critical Care Interface

Point-of-care (POC) testing allows for medical testing to be performed across the disaster-emergency-critical care continuum. The disaster-emergency-critical care continuum begins with the identification of at-risk patients, followed by patient stabilization, and ultimately transfer to an alternate care facility or mobile hospital for comprehensive critical care. Gaps at the interfaces for each of these settings leads to excess mortality and morbidity. Disaster victims are at risk for acute myocardial infarctions, acute kidney injury (AKI), and sepsis. However cardiac biomarker testing, renal function testing, and multiplex rapid pathogen detection are often unavailable or inadequate during disasters. Cardiac biomarker reagents require refrigeration; traditional renal function tests (i.e., serum creatinine) exhibit poor sensitivity for predicting AKI in critically ill patients, and culture-based pathogen detection is too slow to help initiate early-directed antimicrobial therapy. We propose three value propositions detailing how rapid, POC, and environmentally hardened cardiac biomarker, AKI and multiplex pathogen testing harmonizes the interface between disaster, emergency, and critical care.