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PubMed · 9293734

Disaster medicine.

N S Oster
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Abstract

The American College of Emergency Physicians defines a medical disaster as occurring when the destructive effects of natural or man-made forces overwhelm the ability of a particular region to meet the demand for health care. The science of disaster medicine is continually improving, and significant progress has been made in defining how to provide a comprehensive response to disaster sites. The management of a disaster involves an activation phase, followed by the implementation and recovery phases. The success of each phase depends on coordinated on-site and off-site communication systems. This paper presents an overview of this new subspecialty and discusses the fundamental components of an effective disaster response.

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Disaster PlanningDisastersEmergency MedicineHumansNational Health ProgramsRescue WorkUnited StatesJournal ArticleReview

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N S Oster. Disaster medicine.. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9293734/

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