Hazardous Materials Events: Evaluation of Transport to Health Care and Evacuation and Decisions

Details

• Personal Author:
  Brodkin CA ; Burgess JL ; Harter L ; Kovalchick D ; Kyes KB ; Lymp JF ; Brodkin CA ; Burgess JL ; Harter L ; Kovalchick D ; Kyes KB ; Lymp JF
• Description:
  The study objective was to analyze hazardous materials event and victim factors associated with transportation of victims to a health care facility, and evacuation or shelter-in-place of nearby populations. A retrospective review was conducted on hazardous materials events in Washington State from 1993 to 1997. Bivariate and multiple logistic regression were used to identify risk factors for transportation, evacuation, and shelter-in-place. Over five years, 2,654 victims from 457 events were reported, with 1,859 (70%) transported to a health care facility. Evacuation occurred in 279 (61%) events and shelter-in-place in 14 (3%) events. After excluding 14 deaths, regression analysis indicated that victims with trauma (OR 5.87, 95% CI 1.41-24.5), thermal burns (6.90, 1.15-41.3), dizziness/other CNS symptoms (1.59, 1.00-2.54), and headache (1.54, 1.01-2.35) were most likely to be transported. Chemical releases inside buildings (2.09, 1.06-4.10, compared with transportation events), and involving 3-5 victims (2.86, 1.54-5.31, compared to 1 victim) or > or =6 victims (8.74, 4.01-19.0), were most likely to involve evacuation or shelter-in-place. Events involving sulfuric acid (0.15, 0.05-0.49) and sodium hydroxide (0.19, 0.04-0.94) were least likely to involve evacuation or shelter-in-place. Prehospital decisions to transport victims to a health care facility and evacuate or shelter-in-place nearby populations are associated with event and victim factors. Further research is needed to determine if these factors also predict need for medical care or removal from exposure, and to develop evidence-based prehospital care protocols for hazardous materials exposure victims. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Emergencies Emergency Responders Hazardous Substances Health Care Facilities Workforce And Services Health Personnel Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety
• Keywords:
  Emergency-care Emergency-responders Emergency-response Emergency-treatment Hazardous-materials Health-care Health-care-facilities Health-care-personnel Rescue-measures Rescue-workers Risk-analysis Risk-factors

  More +
• ISSN:
  0735-6757
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article ; Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Arizona ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 9 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health ; Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America ; North America
• Pages in Document:
  99-105
• Volume:
  19
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20031182
• Citation:
  Am J Emerg Med 2001 Mar; 19(2):99-105
• Email:
  jburgess@u.arizona.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2001
• Performing Organization:
  University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19950701
• Source Full Name:
  The American Journal of Emergency Medicine
• End Date:
  20060630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:5023ecc21251a9de6327498b791cfe12fdfab89ac60a06798714e1129c2da0316f5a4123863a3179d3ae18cb003acfaf022447756f2871044719318a91959914
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/191507/cdc_191507_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 54.38 KB ]