Original Article

EMERGENCY HEALTH SERVICES AND OUR EXPERIENCES FOR FLOOD DISASTER THAT OCCURRED IN BATMAN IN 2006

  • B. AL
  • A. AKGUN
  • A. YEŞİLKAYA

Received Date: 28.01.2008 Accepted Date: 03.03.2008 Eurasian J Emerg Med 2008;7(2):28-32

Objective:

In this study the objective is to evaluate the results of the flood disaster that was occurred in Batman in 2006, and to share our emergency service experiences.

Method:

The patients who were exposured to the flood and trauma, who had gastrointestinal and respiratory system complaints, who exposured to the electrical injury, who remained under landslide, who had psychiatric disease were brought to the emergency service and were treated. The other patients were treated as an outpatient by mobile health team.

Findings:

114.581 people were affected from the flood. 1.60 % of them were in age between 0-11 month, 10.35% were between 1- 4 years old, %50.84 were between 5-18 years old, %34.28 were between 19-64 years old, and %2.93 were over 65 years old. 1995 people were admitted to the emergency services. The patients who were affected from the flood directly (3.76%), admitted at the first 24 hours of the event. The majority of the admission was between the fifth and the tenth days of the event. During admission period, 559 patients had high fever, 650 patients coughing, dyspnea and chestpain, 510 patients had diarrhea, 247 patients nausea-vomiting, 75 patients had different injuries deal trauma, 47 patients had skin disease, 48 patients had psychological diseases, and 7 patients had nonspecific complaints. The injuries were mostly at upper extremity, lower extremity and head region. 631 patients were taken to the emergency service observation unit. 60 patients were hospitalized to the related clinics, 1293 patients were treated outpatient at the emergency service. Eleven patients were exposured to the flood and they were died.

Conclusion:

In the first 24 hours of the flood disaster, the patients who had trauma were admitted to emergency service and, for later period the patients who had gastrointestinal and respiratory system diseases were admitted to the emergency service. Trauma incidence occurred at the flood was 6/10.000, diarrhea incidence for two week was 4.5/1000, and the general mortality ratio was established to be 9.6/100.000.

Keywords: Emergency Service, Diarrhea, Mortality, Flood, Trauma