Automated external defibrillators deployed in readily accessible, well-marked public areas in Chicago airports were used effectively to assist patients with cardiac arrest. In the cases of survivors, most of the users had no duty to act and no prior training in the use of these devices.

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Abstract. Q-methodology is a relatively unknown tool to medical researchers, that uses a mixed quantitativdqualitative statistical technique known as by-person factor analysis to study subjectivity. Q-methodology allows the grouping of individuals according to their subjective feelings about a topic, without requiring preconceived ideas regarding the structure of those subjective feelings. Q-methodology is demonstrated using a study in which attitudes of emergency medicine residents toward computer education are explored systematically and classified in terms of statistically distinct factor viewpoints. In this example, Q-methodology identifies 4 attitude groups, as related to computers and computer education: 1) interested, eager to learn; 2) frustrated and interested, but with reservations; 3) interested mainly in benefits, willing to expend minimal effort; and 4) knowledgeable, independent learner. Q-methodology can be used to determine the structure of attitudes on a subjective topic, often yielding new insights.

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This article describes the planning, development, and execution of a unique, decentralized, and flexible medical response capability that was developed for the 1996 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Concerns for coordinated acts of violence, terrorism, toxicologic exposures, and logistic problems posed by the United Center prompted the development of a decentralized and flexible rapid-response plan. Contingency planning for the remote possibility of a full-scale disaster led to the additional development of a contingency mass-casualty field hospital on site. The plans for this mass-gathering response are described in considerable detail. Forty-four patient encounters across the four days of the convention were recorded, with a combination of minor injuries and potentially serious medical presentations. The 1.46 EMS encounters per 1,000 attendees at the Democratic National Convention is comparable to other utilization rates for mass gatherings in the literature. Proactive attention to comprehensive contingency planning for equipment, supplies, personnel, and organizational needs, especially when multiagency response and cooperation are required, is essential.