Health service impact from mass-gatherings: A systematic literature review

ABSTRACT:

Background: Mass gatherings are events where a large number of people congregate for a common purpose, such as sporting events, agricultural shows, and music festivals. When definitive care is required for participants of mass gatherings, municipal ambulance services provide assessment, treatment, and transport of participants to acute care settings, such as hospitals. The impact on both ambulance services and emergency department services from mass gathering events was the focus of this literature review.

Methods: This research used a systematic literature review methodology. Databases were searched to find articles related to aim of the review. Articles focused on mass gathering health, provision of in-event health services, ambulance service transportation and hospital utilization.

Results: Twenty-four studies were identified for inclusion in this review. These studies were all case-study based and retrospective in design. The majority of studies (n = 23) provided details of in-event first responder services. There was variation in reporting of the number and type of in-event health professional services at mass gatherings. All articles reported that patients were transported to hospital by the ambulance service. Only nine articles reported on patients presenting to hospital.

Conclusion: There is minimal research focusing on the impact of mass gatherings on in-event and external health services, such as ambulance services and hospitals. A recommendation for future mass gathering research and evaluation is to link patient-level data from in-event mass gatherings to external health services. This type of study design would provide information regarding the impact on health services from a mass gathering, to more accurately inform future health planning for mass-gatherings across the health care continuum

Ranse J, Hutton A, Keene T, Lenson S, Luther M, Bost N, Johnston A, Crilly J, Cannon M, Jones N, Hayes C, Burke B. (2017) Health service impact from mass-gatherings: A systematic literature review; paper presented at the 17th WADEM Congress on Disaster and Emergency Medicine. Toronto, Canada 29th April

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Australian civilian hospital nurses' lived experience of the out-of-hospital environment following a disaster: A lived-space perspective

ABSTRACT:

Study/Objective: This research explored what it may be like being an Australian civilian in-hospital nurse, in the out-of hospital disaster environment following a disaster, as part of a disaster medical assistance team. This presentation will explore the specific aspect of lived-space from a larger phenomenological research project.

Background: In the minutes following a disaster, reports from the media focus on the measurable impact. For example, the magnitude of an earthquake or the number of hectares burnt by a wildfire. Lived-space is concerned with felt space, going beyond these measurable physical, visible and touchable spaces. Lived-space is the way in which we find ourselves in our lifeworld through the spaces of our day-to-day existence

Methods: For this phenomenological study, narrative was obtained from eight Australian civilian hospital nurses following a disaster. Semi-structured interviews were conducted at two points in time. Descriptive moments of a possible lived experience were identified from participant narrative. These moments formed a lived experience description as an anecdote of an experience. A preparatory epoché-reduction and reduction proper was used to guide a reflection on the lived-space of being a nurse, following a disaster from the lived experience description.

Results: Lived-space was described as shrinking then being open too-wide, where nurses were drawn into the disaster lived-space, then returning home to a wide-open but crowded lived-space. Disaster health lived-space was described as occupying, sharing and giving back. Conclusion: This research provides insight into Australian civilian in-hospital nurse in the out-of-hospital disaster environment, following a disaster as part of a disaster medical assistance team. In particular, this work adds a lived-space perspective to the existing literature. These insights may inform future education, research, clinical practice, and policy.


Ranse J, Arbon P, Cusack L, Shaban R. (2017) Australian civilian hospital nurses' lived experience of the out-of-hospital environment following a disaster: A lived-space perspective; paper presented at the 17th WADEM Congress on Disaster and Emergency Medicine. Toronto, Canada 25th April.

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