Improvised first aid techniques for terrorist attacks

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (8) ◽  
pp. 516-521 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Loftus ◽  
Harvey Pynn ◽  
Paul Parker

Terrorist acts occur every day around the world. Healthcare professionals are often present as bystander survivors in these situations, with none of the equipment or infrastructure they rely on in their day-to-day practice. Within several countries there has been a move to disseminate the actions to take in the event of such attacks: in the UK, Run, Hide, Tell, and in the USA, Fight Back. This paper outlines how a very basic medical knowledge combined with everyday high-street items can render highly effective first aid and save lives. We discuss and summarise modern improvised techniques. These include the <C> ABCDE approach of treating catastrophic haemorrhage before airway management, bringing together improvised techniques from the military and wilderness medicine. We explain how improvised tourniquets, wound dressings, splinting and traction devices can be fabricated using items from the high street: nappies, tampons, cling film, duct tape and tablecloths. Cervical spine immobilisation is a labour-intensive protocol that is often practised defensively. With little evidence to support the routine use of triple immobilisation, this should be replaced with a common sense dynamic approach such as the Montana neck brace. Acid or alkali attacks are also examined with simple pragmatic advice. Analgesia is discussed in the context of a prehospital setting. Pharmacy-obtained oral morphine and diclofenac suppositories can be used to treat moderate pain without relying on equipment for intravenous/intraosseous infusion in prolonged hold situations. The differentiation between concealment and cover is summarised: scene safety remains paramount.

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 465-471 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rhys H Thomas ◽  
Mark O Cunningham

Click here to listen to the PodcastThe one-third of people who do not gain seizure control through current treatment options need a revolution in epilepsy therapeutics. The general population appears to be showing a fundamental and rapid shift in its opinion regarding cannabis and cannabis-related drugs. It is quite possible that cannabidiol, licensed in the USA for treating rare genetic epilepsies, may open the door for the widespread legalisation of recreational cannabis. It is important that neurologists understand the difference between artisanal cannabidiol products available legally on the high street and the cannabidiol medications that have strong trial evidence. In the UK in 2018 there are multiple high-profile reports of the response of children taking cannabis-derived medication, meaning that neurologists are commonly asked questions about these treatments in clinic. We address what an adult neurologist needs to know now, ahead of the likely licensing of Epidiolex in the UK in 2019.


2015 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 574-578 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsay B. Katona ◽  
William S. Douglas ◽  
Sean R. Lena ◽  
Kyle G. Ratner ◽  
Daniel Crothers ◽  
...  

AbstractIntroductionThe challenges presented by traumatic injuries in low-resource communities are especially relevant in South Sudan. This study was conducted to assess whether a 3-day wilderness first aid (WFA) training course taught in South Sudan improved first aid knowledge. Stonehearth Open Learning Opportunities (SOLO) Schools designed the course to teach people with limited medical knowledge to use materials from their environment to provide life-saving care in the event of an emergency.MethodsA pre-test/post-test study design was used to assess first aid knowledge of 46 community members in Kit, South Sudan, according to a protocol approved by the University of New England Institutional Review Board. The course and assessments were administered in English and translated in real-time to Acholi and Arabic, the two primary languages spoken in the Kit region. Descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, and correlation analyses were conducted.ResultsResults included a statistically significant improvement in first aid knowledge after the 3-day training course: t(38)=3.94; P<.001. Although men started with more health care knowledge: (t(37)=2.79; P=.008), men and women demonstrated equal levels of knowledge upon course completion: t(37)=1.56; P=.88.ConclusionsThis research, which may be the first of its kind in South Sudan, provides evidence that a WFA training course in South Sudan is efficacious. These findings suggest that similar training opportunities could be used in other parts of the world to improve basic medical knowledge in communities with limited access to medical resources and varying levels of education and professional experiences.KatonaLB, DouglasWS, LenaSR, RatnerKG, CrothersD, ZondervanRL, RadisCD. Wilderness first aid training as a tool for improving basic medical knowledge in South Sudan. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2015;30(6):574–578.


2003 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Majoros

The study introduces a Hungarian economic thinker, István Varga*, whose valuable activity has remained unexplored up to now. He became an economic thinker during the 1920s, in a country that had not long before become independent of Austria. The role played by Austria in the modern economic thinking of that time was a form of competition with the thought adhered to by the UK and the USA. Hungarian economists mainly interpreted and commented on German and Austrian theories, reasons for this being that, for example, the majority of Hungarian economists had studied at German and Austrian universities, while at Hungarian universities principally German and Austrian economic theories were taught. István Varga was familiar not only with contemporary German economics but with the new ideas of Anglo-Saxon economics as well — and he introduced these ideas into Hungarian economic thinking. He lived and worked in turbulent times, and historians have only been able to appreciate his activity in a limited manner. The work of this excellent economist has all but been forgotten, although he was of international stature. After a brief summary of Varga’s profile the study will demonstrate the lasting influence he has had in four areas — namely, business cycle research and national income estimations, the 1946 Hungarian stabilisation program, corporate profit, and consumption economics — and will go on to summarise his most important achievements.


Author(s):  
Marco M. Fontanella ◽  
Giorgio Saraceno ◽  
Ting Lei ◽  
Joshua B. Bederson ◽  
Namkyu You ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
The Usa ◽  

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. 2363-2380
Author(s):  
S.B. Zainullin ◽  
O.A. Zainullina

Subject. The military-industrial complex is one of the core industries in any economy. It ensures both the economic and global security of the State. However, the economic security of MIC enterprises strongly depends on the State and other stakeholders. Objectives. We examine key factors of corporate culture in terms of theoretical and practical aspects. The article identifies the best implementation of corporate culture that has a positive effect on the corporate security in the MIC of the USA, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Japan ans China. Methods. The study employs dialectical method of research, combines the historical and logic unity, structural analysis, traditional techniques of economic analysis and synthesis. Results. We performed the comparative analysis of corporate culture models and examined how they are used by the MIC corporations with respect to international distinctions. Conclusions and Relevance. The State is the main stakeholder of the MIC corporations, since it acts as the core customer represented by the military department. It regulates and controls operations. The State is often a major shareholder of such corporations. Employees are also important stakeholders. Hence, trying to satisfy stakeholders' needs by developing the corporate culture, corporations mitigate their key risks and enhance their corporate security.


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