The World Trade Center attack. Similarities to the 1988 earthquake in Armenia: time to teach the public life-supporting first aid?
On 7 December 1988, a severe earthquake hit in Armenia, a former republic of the Soviet Union (USSR); on 11 September 2001, a manmade attack of similar impact hit New York City. These events share similar implications for the role of the uninjured survivor. With basic training, the uninjured survivors could save lives without tools or resuscitation equipment. This article makes the case for teaching life-supporting first aid to the public in the hope that one day, should another such incident occur, they would be able to preserve injured victims until formal rescue occurs.
Crippen
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Associate Director, Departments of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine, St Francis Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. crippen+@pitt.edu
D000401:Aircraft; D001136:Armenia; D004189:Disaster Planning; D004190:Disasters; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration; D005392:First Aid / Q000592:standards*; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006266:Health Education; D006801:Humans; D009519:New York City; D018635:Rescue Work / Q000458:organization & administration*; D023481:Terrorism; D014187:Transportation of Patients / Q000458:organization & administration; D014218:Triage / Q000458:organization & administration; D014481:United States; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000628:therapy