Psychiatric issues in medical-surgical disaster casualties: a consultation-liaison approach.
Psychiatrists can increase the efficacy of their response to disaster victims in the immediate aftermath of a disaster if they utilize a consultation-liaison approach to assessment and management of casualties. Medical-surgical disaster responders use an algorithmic, stepwise approach to assess disaster or trauma victims. This approach ensures that patients with life-threatening injuries who are not expectant are treated first. Then, secondary physical assessments ensure proper triage of other victims so that disaster response resources are used most wisely. A tertiary psychiatric assessment can assist with differential diagnosis of post-disaster neuropsychiatric symptoms and signs to ensure valuable medical-surgical resources are targeted to the correct patients. Psychiatric triage can also identify those victims most in need of early preventive and therapeutic psychiatric intervention.
Rundell
J R
JR
Edward Hebert School of Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, AE 09012, USA. james.rundell@ramstein.af.mil
D004189:Disaster Planning; D004190:Disasters; D006801:Humans; D009104:Multiple Trauma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D010348:Patient Care Team; D011570:Psychiatry; D011613:Psychotherapy; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D014218:Triage