Health System Response and Adaptation to the Largest Sandstorm in the Middle East

Abstract

The State of Qatar experienced a sandstorm on the night of April 1, 2015, lasting approximately 12 hours, with winds of more than 100 km/h and average particulate matter of approximately 10 μm in diameter. The emergency department (ED) of the main tertiary hospital in Qatar managed 62% of the total emergency calls and those of higher triage order. The peak load of patients during the event manifested approximately 6 hours after the onset. The Major Emergency Command Centre of the hospital ensured the department was maximally organized in terms of disaster management, and established protocols were brought into action. Multiple timely meetings were convened in efforts to effectively execute plans that included rapid emergency medical services handover time, resourcing staff, maximizing bed space, preventing dust entry in the ED, bypassing certain administrative processes, canceling day-surgeries that did not affect inpatient morbidity, and procuring additional respiratory equipment. Patients arrived mainly with exacerbations of asthma and respiratory distress, ophthalmic emergencies, and vehicular trauma; surprisingly, the incidence of pedestrian injuries did not vary. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2017;11:227-238).

Epidemiological Determinants of Patient Non-Conveyance to the Hospital in an Emergency Medical Service Environment

“…The HMCAS manages the health coverage of most of these events. Therefore, with the crowdedness and the Shamal and Easterly winds increasing during these months [42], the risk of minor and mild respiratory and Ear-Nose-Throats (ENT) diseases also sharply rises, increasing the 999 emergency demands [43].…”

“…Age: Patients were divided into groups according to World Health Organization age categories [16] (≤14 years;(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29);(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42)(43)(44);(45)(46)(47)(48)(49)(50)(51)(52)(53)(54)(55)(56)(57)(58)(59);(60)(61)(62)(63)(64)(65)(66)(67)(68)(69)(70)(71)(72)(73)(74); (75-89) and ≥90).-Nationalities: 273 nationalities, as recorded in the ePCR system. As the ePCR system has been evolving s...…”

Health and Safety Effects of Airborne Soil Dust in the Americas and Beyond

“…The 1 April 2015, Doha, Qatar extreme dust event, mentioned in Section 5.2, is raised again here to suggest, for important practical reasons, that some advances in research may be near ready for operations (Figure 5). Measured dust concentrations in the Qatar case exceeded 1,000,000 μg/m 3 (Irfan et al., 2017), and most models at the Barcelona SDS‐WAS had predicted the incoming episode—the intensity of which qualified it for inclusion in the Rolls‐Royce “Duration of exposure versus ash concentration (DEvAC)” chart for hazard to aircraft engines (Lekki, 2017). Looking toward practical, important operational ends, over the last 20 years, more than 150 cases of engine power‐loss and damage caused by cloud ice crystals have been recorded.…”

Health and Safety Effects of Airborne Soil Dust in the Americas and Beyond

“…The 1 April 2015, Doha, Qatar extreme dust event, mentioned in Section 5.2, is raised again here to suggest, for important practical reasons, that some advances in research may be near ready for operations (Figure 5). Measured dust concentrations in the Qatar case exceeded 1,000,000 μg/m 3 (Irfan et al, 2017), and most models at the Barcelona SDS-WAS had predicted the incoming episode-the intensity of which qualified it for inclusion in the Rolls-Royce "Duration of exposure versus ash concentration (DEvAC)" chart for hazard to aircraft engines (Lekki, 2017). Looking toward practical, important operational ends, over the last 20 years, more than 150 cases of engine power-loss and damage caused by cloud ice crystals have been recorded.…”