Annals of Burns and Fire Disasters - vol. XII - n. 1 - March 1999

BOOK REVIEWS

Provides a well-structured collection of facts, advice, and recommended actions that can enable community leaders and health personnel to take control when disaster strikes. While noting that reliance on utside assistance is an inevitable part of disaster management, the book emphasizes the many things communities can do to save lives while awaiting help and guard against the tragedy of inappropriate aid. Information is specific to emergencies caused by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods, hurricanes, gales, tidal waves, and droughts.
The first half sets out plans of action for coping with a progression of likely events, moving from immediate rescue operations and treatment of the injured, through the sheltering of survivors and burial of the dead, to the co-ordination of relief operations and the planning of long-term recovery. Using checklists, action plans, and abundant illustrations, the chapters help readers to anticipate problems, visualize procedures, and be prepared to move into action. Details range from advice on how to locate survivors to a list of dangers to avoid during food distribution.
The second half concentrates on special problems requiring detailed explanation or instructions. Readers are given information on the diseases that should be monitored in temporary shelters, measures for assessing nutritional status and determining the need for supplementary feeding, and for preparing record cards, self-evaluation records, and maps of risks and resources. Readers are also given information on what to do during an earthquake, how to interpret damage to different types of buildings in terms of the risk of continued residence, and what types of medical equipment will be needed.

This book was prepared by L. Garrino and S.W.A. Gunn in collaboration with NGOs.

Lists of Drugs and Medical Supplies for 10,000 People for Approximately Three Months
1990,44 pp. (E, F, S). WHO/DAP/90.1. Sw. Fr. 8 / US $ 7.20 / in developing countries Sw. Fr. 6.80. Order N° 1930018

Explains how to use standardized packages of essential drugs, supplies, and equipment to provide effective medical care under the primitive, demanding conditions that follow emergencies or disasters. Both the concept and the contents of the kit, which was developed by WHO in collaboration with a large number of international and non-governmental agencies, are designed to expedite the provision of supplies in line with priority health needs. Although primarily addressed to relief agencies, the book also provides useful information for national authorities and hospital managers interested in stockpiling drugs and supplies in advance.
A complete emergency kit contains two separate sets of drugs and supplies. The first set consists of ten identical packages of basic drugs and supplies intended for use by community health workers located in remote areas. Each package ways approximately 45 kg and is calculated to serve 1,000 persons for approximately three months. The second, or supplementary kit, which weighs around 410 kg, contains drugs, renewable supplies, and equipment needed by doctors working in first- or second-referral health facilities.
The book provides background information on the development of the kit, a detailed description of the contents, comments on the selection of items, treatment guidelines for prescribers, and some useful checklists for suppliers and prescribers.

This book replaces the 1984 WHO Emergency Health Kit: Standard Drugs for Clinic Equipment for 10,000 persons for Three Months.

This volume initiates the publication of a series of specific articles in the field of tissue banking. The book is an instrument for the spreading and extension of know-how in the sector, which the authors thus put at the disposal of all those who in their various specialities use a tissue bank in their professional and research activity. The volume opens with a description and comparison of "Regulatory models for safety and quality of allografts" in Europe and the United States. Chapter 2 considers '7ransplant donation co-ordination" and describes experiences in the United Kingdom, together with the Spanish model. The following chapters deal with the use of autologous bone in orthopaedics, the use of foetal membranes and autologous keratinocyte cultures, and heart valve banking. The volume is completed by an ample consideration of the principles of cell and tissue conservation and sterilization.
Contents: Regulatory models for the safety and quality of allografts; Transplant donation co-ordination; Allografts in orthopaedics; Foetal membranes and cultured keratinocytes; Heart valve banking; Cell and tissue preservation; Sterilization.
Readership: Orthopaedic surgeons. general surgeons, cardiologists, transplantologists, cryobiologists, National Health regulators, and tissue bankers.

N. D'Arpa M.D.

The authors of the first volume in the series continue in the same manner in this second volume, considering the activity of Dr Kenneth W. Sell, the pioneer of the modern concept of issue banking. The volume presents the important contributions that the various authors, each in his own field, has given to the development of medical science. Ample chapters are dedicated to important topics of current interest such as the cryoconservation of tissues and organs, the use of allografts in cardiovascular surgery and neurosurgery, as well as the clinical use of human skin, biological membranes, and dennis preserved in the tissue bank.
Contents: The contribution of Kenneth W. Sell to the progress of tissue banking; Progress in blood transfusion and marrow transplantation; Immunological developments in support of orthopaedic surgery; Cryopreservation of organs and tissue; Osseous and osteochondral transplantation; The contribution of issue banking in cardiovascular surgery and neurosurgery; Banking and clinical use of human skin; Biological membranes and acellular dermis.
Readership: Orthopaedic surgeons, general surgeons, neurosurgeons, cardiologists, transplant surgeons, cryobiologists, health regulators, tissue bankers, burn specialists, students.

N. D'Arpa M.D.