Objective: We analyzed characteristics of tornado-related injuries and medical impact on a county-level hospital in China in June 23, 2016. The objective of this study was to describe and analyze local government rescue responses following the tornado.
Methods: County hospital medical records of 288 tornado-related injury patients were collected. Descriptive analyses to study injury characteristics and associated risk factors were performed.
Results: Of the studied population, 84% of the wounded were older than 45 years. Only 30 (10.4%) people were sent to the hospital for treatment within 3 hours following the disaster. Heavy objects or collapsing houses accounted for 191 (66.3%) of the documented injuries. The proportion of people with resulting brain injuries was 46.2% of the entire injured population, and the incidence of lower extremity injuries was 27.8%. A total of 89.6% of the wounded had skin and soft tissue injuries. Multiple injuries were found in 129 (44.8%) people and 156 had a single injury (54.2%), and 3 cases with acute stress disorder were admitted to the hospital.
Conclusions: Preparation plans, including tornado warnings, prevention, and rescue, are a basic requirement for the mitigation of tornado-related injuries. Protection awareness of tornado disasters is also critical to ensure injury prevention.
Keywords: disaster medicine; tornado-related injuries; tornadoes; trauma.