title: Emergency medical rescue efforts after a major earthquake: lessons from the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake.
abstract: Major earthquakes often result in incalculable environmental damage, loss of life, and threats to health. Tremendous progress has been made in response to many medical challenges resulting from earthquakes. However, emergency medical rescue is complicated, and great emphasis should be placed on its organisation to achieve the best results. The 2008 Wenchuan earthquake was one of the most devastating disasters in the past 10 years and caused more than 370,000 casualties. The lessons learnt from the medical disaster relief effort and the subsequent knowledge gained about the regulation and capabilities of medical and military back-up teams should be widely disseminated. In this Review we summarise and analyse the emergency medical rescue efforts after the Wenchuan earthquake. Establishment of a national disaster medical response system, an active and effective commanding system, successful coordination between rescue forces and government agencies, effective treatment, a moderate, timely and correct public health response, and long-term psychological support are all crucial to reduce mortality and morbidity and promote overall effectiveness of rescue efforts after a major earthquake.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Military Health Management, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China. zllrmit@yahoo.com.cn
authors.forename: Lulu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Youping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Zhipeng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Juncong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Ji
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Xuefeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Wannian
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liang
mesh_terms: D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003140:Communicable Disease Control / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003376:Counseling; D004189:Disaster Planning / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D004190:Disasters; D055866:Earthquakes / Q000401:mortality / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004630:Emergencies; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D006077:Government Agencies; D006801:Humans; D008889:Military Personnel; D011634:Public Health / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D012106:Research; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology