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Death Toll (death + toll)
Selected Abstracts,We All Knew that a Cyclone Was Coming': Disaster Preparedness and the Cyclone of 1999 in Orissa, IndiaDISASTERS, Issue 4 2004Frank Thomalla Imagine that a cyclone is coming, but that those living in the affected areas do nothing or too little to protect themselves. This is precisely what happened in the coastal state of Orissa, India. Individuals and communities living in regions where natural hazards are a part of daily life develop strategies to cope with and adapt to the impacts of extreme events. In October 1999, a cyclone killed 10,000 people according to government statistics, however, the unofficial death toll is much higher. This article examines why such a large loss of life occurred and looks at measures taken since then to initiate comprehensive disaster-preparedness programmes and to construct more cyclone shelters. The role of both governmental organisations and NGOs in this is critically analysed. The good news is that, based on an assessment of disaster preparedness during a small cyclone in November 2002, it can be seen that at community-level awareness was high and that many of the lessons learnt in 1999 were put into practice. Less positive, however, is the finding that at the state level collaboration continues to be problematic. [source] When half of the population died: the epidemic of hemorrhagic fevers of 1576 in MexicoFEMS MICROBIOLOGY LETTERS, Issue 1 2004Rodofo Acuna-Soto Abstract During the 16th century, Mexico suffered a demographic catastrophe with few parallels in world's history. In 1519, the year of the arrival of the Spaniards, the population in Mexico was estimated to be between 15 and 30 million inhabitants. Eighty-one years later, in 1600, only two million remained. Epidemics (smallpox, measles, mumps), together with war, and famine have been considered to be the main causes of this enormous population loss. However, re-evaluation of historical data suggests that approximately 60,70% of the death toll was caused by a series of epidemics of hemorrhagic fevers of unknown origin. In order to estimate the impact of the 1576 epidemic of hemorrhagic fevers on the population we analyzed the historical record and data from the 1570 and 1580 censuses of 157 districts. The results identified several remarkable aspects of this epidemic: First, overall, the population loss for these 157 districts was 51.36%. Second, there was a clear ethnic preference of the disease, the Spanish population was minimally affected whereas native population had high mortality rate. Third, the outbreak originated in the valleys of central Mexico whence it evolved as an expansive wave. Fourth, a positive correlation between altitude and mortality in central Mexico was found. Fifth, a specific climatic sequence of events was associated with the initiation and dissemination of the hemorrhagic fevers. Although the last epidemic of hemorrhagic fevers in Mexico ended in 1815, many questions remain to be answered. Perhaps the most relevant ones are whether there is a possible reemergence of the hemorrhagic fevers and how vulnerable we are to the disease. [source] The Haiti Earthquake: a salutary lesson in (non) earthquake engineeringGEOLOGY TODAY, Issue 2 2010Peter Styles A devastating earthquake of magnitude 7 struck very close and almost beneath Port au Prince the capital of Haiti, the western half of the island of Hispaniola, early in the morning of Tuesday, 12 January 2010 (Fig. 1). While in absolute terms this was by no means the largest earthquake recorded this year globally, the death toll is around 230 000, making it one of the world's worst earthquakes in terms of casualties in recorded history, with almost uncountable economic loss to one of the poorest countries in the world. Figure 1. Intensity map of 2010 Haiti earthquake (Image: USGS). [source] Applying lessons from China's Wenchuan earthquake to medical rescue following the Yushu earthquakeJOURNAL OF EVIDENCE BASED MEDICINE, Issue 2 2010Shaolin Deng A 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit China's Qinghai province,4000 meters above sea level, on April 14, 2010, just 702 days after Wenchuan Earthquake. As of 12:00 on April 19, the death toll stood at 1706, with 256 missing and 12,128 injured. West China Hospital (WCH), a regional state-level hospital of the Ministry of Health, sent a medical team with relief supplies within the first hour after Yushu earthquake and the team rushed to Yushu in the first day participating golden seventy-two hours rescue effort. The second day after Yushu earthquake, medical apparatuses and drugs valued at 5 million RMB were delivered to the rescue site and the second batch of medical team were positioned. Within 33 hours of the earthquake, 102 people, including 93 with earthquake-related injuries and 9 armed police with severe altitude sickness, were send to WCH by air in four batches. WCH organized its medical rescue efforts based on first-hand experience with medical rescue following Wenchuan earthquake, a series of evidence-based diagnosis and treatment standards, and "four concentration principles," namely concentrating the wounded, experts, resources, and treatments. Of the 93 cases with earthquake-related injuries, 54 were seriously wounded, and in the five days immediately following the earthquake, 58 underwent operations and none died. The experience learned from Wenchuan earthquake have been used, improved and sublimated more rapidly, appropriately, and effectively in the Yushu earthquake medical rescue. [source] Demographic Data on the Victims of the September 11, 2001 Terror Attack on the World Trade Center, New York CityPOPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT REVIEW, Issue 3 2002Article first published online: 27 JAN 200 The magnitude of the death toll resulting from the attack on the World Trade Center is without precedent in the history of terrorist acts. Because of the scale and destructiveness of the buildings' collapse, a final list of the victims required a lengthy process, more so than was the case at the other sites of terrorist violence on the same day,at the Pentagon, Virginia (193 killed, 68 of these on American Airlines Flight 77), and near Shanksville, Pennsylvania (45 killed in the crash of United Airlines Flight 93). After the passing of a year, the list of the victims in New York, while essentially complete, is still not officially closed. On August 19, 2002, the city's medical examiner's office issued a list containing 2,819 names. Reproduced below are some data, released by the city's office of vital statistics, on the demographic characteristics of 2,723 victims (59 of these on United Airlines Flight 175 and 89 on American Airlines Flight 11) for whom a death certificate had been issued,an exacting procedure,as of August 16,2002. The cause of death, in each instance, was entered as homicide. The age distribution reflects the character of the World Trade Center,a workplace,and the time of day,early for tourist visits. The youngest victims perished as passengers in the two airplanes flown into the twin towers. [source] The Spanish Influenza of 1918 in St. Louis, MissouriPUBLIC HEALTH NURSING, Issue 5 2006Irene Kalnins ABSTRACT In view of current concern about a possible pandemic of virulent avian influenza, it is timely to revisit the public health response to the "Spanish" influenza of 1918. St. Louis, Missouri, was the most successful of nine largest cities in limiting the death toll from influenza and pneumonia through the use of public health measures during the first 8 weeks of the epidemic. A second wave of cases increased the final death rate, but it remained below that of other major cities. Public health officials attributed the lower death rate to the early and rigorous ban on public gatherings. [source] | |||||||||||||