Garshnek V, Burkle F M
Pacific Regional Program Office, Tipler Army Medical Center, Hawaii, USA.
Ann Emerg Med. 1999 Aug;34(2):213-8. doi: 10.1016/s0196-0644(99)70231-3.
Disaster events have always been a fact of life. Success or failure of a disaster response is often determined by timely access to communication and reliable information. The rapid progress and future course in telecommunications indicate that lack of communications need no longer be the paralyzing factor in a disaster scenario. This is especially important for medical response where time is of essence to save lives. This article explores various telecommunications tools that can enhance medical response in a disaster and includes those associated with telemedicine (providing medical care from a distance through telecommunications). Disaster telemedicine systems need not be special or sophisticated-the challenge is to match the right systems with a given disaster plan or scenario. A brief history of telemedicine use for disaster relief and humanitarian assistance is presented together with a discussion of advantages, disadvantages, and near-future potential of telecommunication systems to gain a better perspective of which tools might best fit disaster medicine needs today and into the new millennium.
灾害事件一直是生活中的现实。灾害应对的成败往往取决于能否及时进行通信并获取可靠信息。电信领域的快速发展及其未来走向表明，通信不畅在灾害场景中不再必然成为致使行动瘫痪的因素。这对于医疗救援而言尤为重要，因为拯救生命刻不容缓。本文探讨了各种可增强灾害医疗救援能力的电信工具，其中包括与远程医疗相关的工具（通过电信手段远距离提供医疗服务）。灾害远程医疗系统无需特别复杂——关键在于使合适的系统与特定的灾害应对计划或场景相匹配。本文介绍了远程医疗用于救灾和人道主义援助的简要历史，并讨论了电信系统的优缺点以及近期潜力，以便更好地了解哪些工具最能满足当今及新千年灾害医学的需求。
