Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia
Corso di laurea in infermieristica - Sede di Modena
| Thesis Title | The role of the nurse in the hydrogeological maxi-emergencies. A handbook for the population. |
|---|---|
| Name | Reggiani Gianluca |
| Supervisor(s) | Orlando Pantaleo |
| Academic Year | 2015/16 |
| Thesis type | Non research thesis |
Abstract
Drowning is the cause of over 400,000 deaths annually worldwide, and more than half of the victims are children aged between 1 and 2 years. In Italy, according to the National Statistical Institute, until 2012 the average number of deaths per year was over 400. Of these, over 25% were under the age of 30, and more than half of the deaths could have been avoided if the victims had received immediate and appropriate first aid.
A literature review was conducted, based on articles describing the nurse and the role s/he plays in major emergencies, in particular floods and hydrogeological instability.
The databases used for the literature search were: Pubmed, Scopus and UpToDate. 55 articles were first identified using key words such as “Flood“, and setting a filter to only include articles published in “Nursing Journals“. Afterwards, the oldest articles were excluded from the literature review, and those included were full articles that described first aid and rescue techniques for drowning victims in freshwater.
An additional 39 articles were retrieved from “Pubmed“ using key words such as “mass casualty” and “nurse”, and applying a filter to select articles published in “Nursing Journals”. Of these, irrelevant and old articles were excluded. Furthermore, the Websites of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of the Interior were used to find technical data on hydrogeological phenomena, civil protection and its interventions in emergency situations.
Besides, statistical data were taken from the website of World Health Organization for foreign countries, and from the websites of the National Statistical Institute and the ISS for the national cases. It was found that, in particular geologic and environmental conditions, first aid is often given not by health professionals but by volunteers such as fire fighters. Therefore, it can be concluded that it would be necessary for university nursing students to be educated and trained on how to rescue drowning victims.