title: Tibetan plateau earthquake: altitude challenges to medical rescue work.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Rescue efforts for earthquakes in remote plateau regions require large numbers of professional personnel to be transported from various lowland regions for relief work. Unacclimatised rescuers to high-altitude regions commonly suffer acute mountain sickness (AMS), which makes relief efforts inefficient and potentially dangerous.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this study, the AMS symptoms of 78 unacclimatised rescue workers for the Yushu earthquake from Beijing were recorded using the Lake Louise AMS self-report questionnaire. Heart rate and blood oxygen were recorded at rest before departure, during rest and during activity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After ascending, resting heart rate increased from mean 75.87 bpm to 87.45 bpm and resting SpO(2) decreased from an average of 98.51% to 90.35% (both p<0.001). The mean Lake Louise AMS Score for participants was 3.1 (95% CI 2.6 to 3.6). 29 members (37.2%) met the diagnosis criteria for AMS. 16 members (20.5%) were evacuated early due to acute AMS (AMS score ≥5). Rhodiola was offered on a voluntary basis as a prophylactic measure but shown to be ineffective.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Given the ineffectiveness of prophylactic measures and the urgency of such disaster situations, it is unrealistic to mobilise rescue teams from lowland regions for immediate relief efforts. A local disaster plan specific to plateau earthquakes needs to be developed with local personnel for timely and efficient relief.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China. xutengda@yahoo.com.cn
authors.forename: Tengda
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Zhenhua
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Veronica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pei
authors.forename: Liping
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.forename: Lidong
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wan
authors.forename: Yuxuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xuezhong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000531:Altitude; D000532:Altitude Sickness / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D055866:Earthquakes; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D010101:Oxygen Consumption / Q000502:physiology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018635:Rescue Work; D012424:Rural Population; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D018609:Tibet