A Sample of Crisis Management in the Emergency Department and Evaluation of Patients; Reyhanli-Hatay-Turkey Experience

Aim: Natural disasters, terrorist bombings, transportation and industrial accidents can lead to many deaths and injuries. The number of deaths and injuries in these situations are closely related to cooperation among police, fire fighters, ambulances and hospital staff. Practice and organized positioning can improve such cooperation and experiences. In this study, we aimed to investigate the medical situation of the patients admitted to our hospital emergency service after the terrorist bombing attack occurred on Saturday May 11th, 2013 at about 14:00 pm in the Reyhanli province and to evaluate our hospital applications. Material and Method: Data including gender, age, Glascow Coma Scale score, Injury Severity Score-ISS , K-Revise Trauma Score(RTS), type of transportation and injury, duration of treatment and prognosis of the patients injured after the explosion were collected retrospectively from the hospital records. Results: The terrorist bombing attack was the bloodiest event in the history of the Republic of Turkey. After the explosion, 51 people died. 27 of the 146 injured patients were admitted to our hospital. 20 of them were male and 7 were female. The mean age of the patients was 31,85 (1-63). Glascow Coma Scale scores were 3-8 for 3 patients, 9-13 for 6 patients and 14-15 for 18 patients. The most frequent injuries were observed in the extremities and soft tissues. 15 patients were discharged after their treatment and 9 patients were hospitalized by different services related to their medical conditions. Three patients died in the emergency department. The size of the event and the number of injured patients were evaluated by the doctors in charge in emergency service and the 112 paramedics. Then, other relevant doctors, administrative officers and health care staffs were instructed and called to the hospital. Appropriately triaged, monitored and treated patients were resulted after evaluating their conditions. Discussion: The soft tissue injuries were the most common case group in relation to the size of the event. The relationship was determined between trauma score values and mortality. Therefore, emergency services should be prepared to the cumulative injuries such as bombing events