Single Center Experiences to Landslides on Woo-myun Mountain: Preparedness, Response, and Lessons Learned

Moon,  Hyung Gi; Kim,  Soo Hyun; Oh,  Sang Hoon; Park,  Kyu Nam; Kim,  Young Min; Youn,  Chun Song

J Korean Soc Emerg Med > Volume 24(1); 2013 > Article

Original Article

Journal of The Korean Society of Emergency Medicine 2013;24(1): 7-13.

Single Center Experiences to Landslides on Woo-myun Mountain: Preparedness, Response, and Lessons Learned

Hyung Gi Moon, Soo Hyun Kim, Sang Hoon Oh, Kyu Nam Park, Young Min Kim, Chun Song Youn

Department of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea. ycs1005@catholic.ac.kr

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE:
On July 27, 2011, landslides occurred on Woomyun Mountain, resulting in development of mass casualties. Seoul St. Mary's Hospital was the primary recipient of patients. This experience prompted the drafting of a formal disaster plan. Therefore, we outline the Emergency Management External Disaster Plan of Seoul St. Mary's Hospital and discuss the time course of presentation and medical characteristics of the patients.
METHODS:
We conducted a retrospective review of medical records of patients who visited Seoul St. Mary's Hospital from Woo-myun Mountain landslides. In addition, we reviewed the time course of hospital disaster response.
RESULTS:
A total of 33 patients participated in this study. Mean age was 40.2 (+/-21.8) years; eight patients died at the time of admission and cardiopulmonary resuscitation was performed in one patient. Mean Injury Severity Score (ISS) was 9.19 and four patients were ISS above 15. Six patients were admitted to our hospital and two patients underwent an emergency operation. Overall, the emergency disaster management was appropriate due to the formal disaster plan and experiences in conduct of disaster drills. However, there were also several problems. The major problems of our disaster response were as follows: delayed activation of external disaster, difficulties in securing a treatment section, and absence of a decontamination facility.
CONCLUSION:
We observed several problems from our experience with Woo-myun Mountain landslides. Reassessment of the disaster plan and additional planning for other possibilities are needed.

Key words: Disaster planning, Mass casualties, Landslides