Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T21:57:23.307Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Chapter Two: Methods Used for Disaster Medical Research

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 June 2020

Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The purpose of research is to discover or change laws and theory while the purpose for evaluations is to affix a value to the process or outcome. Research is used to define a cause:effect relationship between independent and dependent variable(s). Currently, such experimental studies either are impossible to conduct in the setting of a disaster or are considered unethical. Until recently, reports of disaster responses primarily have been anecdotal and descriptive with little or no structure. They have had little value in the elimination of hazards, reduction of risks, improvement in the absorbing and/or buffering capacities, reduction in vulnerability, and or enhancement of disaster preparedness. They have served to shape our perceptions of the medical and public-health needs associated with certain events. During the last two decades, methodologies used in the social sciences gradually have been adapted to the study of disasters. Such studies have contributed greatly to our understanding of the pathophysiology of disasters and the effects of specific interventions on the affected populations or populations at risk for an event. Not all aspects of such interventions can be measured, but most can be assessed using qualitative methodologies. The importance of using both qualitative and quantitative assessments of effects is discussed.

Keywords

descriptionsdesignsdisastereffectsevaluationsexperimentsguidelinesinterventionsmethodspathophysiologyresearchresponsesriskstechniquestemplates
Type
Introduction
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 17 , Issue S3: Health Disaster Management: Guidelines for Evaluation and Research in the “Utstein Style” , December 2002 , pp. 25 - 30
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2002

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Thatcher, VS, McQueen, A (eds): The New Webster Dictionary of English Language. Consolidated Book Publishers: Chicago, 1971, p 984.Google Scholar
2.Ibid., p 395.Google Scholar
3.Rubin, M, Heuvelman, JHA, Tomic-Cica, Anja, Birnbaum, ML. Healthrelated relief in the former Yugoslavia: Needs, demands, and supplies. Prehosp Disast Med 2000;15(1):9–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4.Baker, FS, Franaszek, JB: Lessons from a DC10 crash, American Airlines Flight 191, Chicago, Illinois. Prehosp Disast Med 1985;1(2):189–196.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5.Ploeger, A: Psychological care of passengers during and after hijacking. Prehosp Disast Med 1985;1(2):201–203.Google Scholar
6.Dick, W, Frey, R, Madjidi, A: Immediate pain relief in disaster conditions. Prehosp Disast Med 1985;1(2):166–168.Google Scholar
7.Romo, RC: The Mexico City earthquake—An international disaster: Overview. Prehosp Disast Med 1986;2:4–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8.Villazon-Sahagun, A: Mexico City earthquake: Medical response. Prehosp Disast Med 1986;2;15–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9.Gueri, M: Eruption of El Ruiz Volcano, Columbia. Prehosp Disast Med 1986;2:50–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10.Siddique, AK, Euosof, A: Cyclone deaths in Bangladesh, May 1985: Who was at risk? Prehosp Disast Med 1986;2:56–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11.Safar, P, Ramos, V, Mosquera, J, et al: Anecdotes on resuscitation potentials following the earthquake of 1970 in Peru. Prehosp Disast Med 1987;3(1):124. Abstract.Google Scholar
12.Safar, P, Kirimli, N, Agnes, A, Magalini, S: Anecdotes on resuscitation potentials following the earthquake of 1980 in Italy. Proceedings of the Fourth Congress on Emergency and Disaster Medicine (abstract). Brighton, UK, June 1985.Google Scholar
13.Klain, M, Ricci, EM, Safar, P, Semenov, MD, Pretto, EA, Tisherman, SA, Abrams, J, Crippen, D, Comfort, L, et al: Disaster reanimatology potentials: A structured interview study in Armenia. I: Methodology and preliminary results. Prehosp Disast Med 1989;4(2):135–154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
14.Pretto, EA, Ricci, EM, Klain, M, Safar, P, Angus, DC, Semenov, MD, Abrams, J, Tisherman, SA, Crippen, D, Comfort, L, et al: Disaster reanimatology potentials: A structured interview study in Armenia. III: Results, conclusions, and recommendations. Prehosp Disast Med 1992;7(4):327–338.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
15.Ricci, EM, Pretto, EA, Safar, P, Klain, M, Angus, DC, Tisherman, SA, Abrams, J, Crippen, D, Comfort, L, Semenov, MD, et al: Disaster reanimatology potentials: A structured interview study in Armenia. Prehosp Disast Med 1991;6(2):159–166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16.Angus, DC, Pretto, EA, Abrams, J, Ceciliano, N, Watoh, Y, Kirimli, B, Certug, A, Comfort, L, et al: Epidemiological assessments of mortality, building collapse pattern, and medical response after the 1992 earthquake in Turkey. Prehosp Disast Med 1997;12(3):222–231.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
17.Pretto, EA, Angus, DC, Abrams, J, Shen, B, Bissell, R, Castro, VMR, Sawyers, R, Watoh, Y, Ceciliano, N, Ricci, EM, et al: An analysis of prehospital mortality in an earthquake. Prehosp Disast Med 1994;9(2):107–124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18.Birnbaum, ML: Guidelines, algorithms, critical pathways, and evidencebased medicine. Prehosp Disast Med 1999;14(3):114–115. Editorial.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19.Birnbaum, ML: Breaking the paradigm. Prehosp Disast Med 1996;11(3):160–161. Editorial.CrossRefGoogle Scholar