Comparison of Patient Needs Following Two Hurricanes

OBJECTIVES: The New Mexico Disaster Medical Assistance Team (NMDMAT) has responded to more hurricanes than any other disaster. To asses if patient needs may be applied to future hurricanes, the patient needs after Hurricanes Andrew (HA) (FL, 8/92) and Iniki (HI) (HI, 9/92) were compared. The study q...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Academic emergency medicine 2003-05, Vol.10 (5), p.447-447
Main Author: Nufer, K. E
Format: Article
Language:English
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:OBJECTIVES: The New Mexico Disaster Medical Assistance Team (NMDMAT) has responded to more hurricanes than any other disaster. To asses if patient needs may be applied to future hurricanes, the patient needs after Hurricanes Andrew (HA) (FL, 8/92) and Iniki (HI) (HI, 9/92) were compared. The study question: did patient needs differ after these hurricanes? METHODS: Design: Retrospective review. Subjects: All patients seen by NMDMAT following HA and HI. Observations: Age, past medical history (PMH), chief complaint (CC), diagnosis, treatments, diagnostic tests, triage level (green/yellow/red) and disposition. Age was analyzed with Student's t-test, other data with chi-square. RESULTS: 1056 patients seen, 712 after HA and 344 after HI. Age did not differ. More patients had a PMH after HA (43.1% v 30.2% p
ISSN:1069-6563
1553-2712
DOI:10.1197/aemj.10.5.447-a