Annals of Burns and Fire Disasters - vol. IX - n. 1 - March 1996

Inforniatic News is a new feature that we shall be publishing regularly as from this issue of Annals. Our aim is to create a space where we can inform our readers about new developments in information technology and review any new products which they may wish to submit to our attention.
Information science has taken on an ever more important role in the medical field in the last few years and the computer is now an irreplaceable work tool, especially for data storing and processing.
However, our years of experience with cornputerization at the Department of Plastic Surgery and Bums Therapy in Palermo have led us to believe that the computer can also be applied more specifically in the clinical field.
At present not many such clinical applications exist, mainly because medical software can only be developed by persons who are competent in the two fields of medical and information science.
Another purpose of this new feature is to stimulate collaboration among all those who - like us - believe in the future development of the clinical application of the computer and to attract the attention of people who are not yet fully aware of the computer's potential.
Relevant articles and actual applications can be sent to the address below:
Annals of Mediterranean Club for Burns and Fire Disasters (MBQ
Informatic News
Divisione ch Chirurgia Plastica e Terapia delle Ustioni,
Ospedale Civico, Via Carmelo Lazzaro, 90127 Palermo, Italy
E-Mail: MBCPA@CRES.IT

Mediterranean Club for Burns and Fire Disasters on the Internet

TECHNICAL REPORT

We are pleased to announce that MBC now has its space on the Internet. Here we describe the project that will be carried out over the next few months.
Information support system for the activities of the Mediterranean Club for Burns and Fire Disasters
The Mediterranean Club for Burns and Fire Disasters (MBC), in the general framework of its institutional activities of information and publication of news in the field of burns, is in the process of activating an information system in order to convey all relevant information by means of the Internet.
To achieve this aim, MBC is availing itself of the technical support of Informed srl, a company with wide experience in the application of multimedia technologies in the medical field which has already co-operated with MBC in the COMETT and TEMPUS European projects. In collaboration with CRES (Centro per la Ricerca Elettronica in Sicilia: Sicilian Electronic Research Centre), a research centre at Monreale (Palermo) on the GARR network which connects numerous national and international universities and research centres, MBC intends to provide its Members and more generally all Internet users with the following packet of information and communication services:

1. WELCOMING SYSTEM
2. BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATA BANK
3. IMAGE DATA BANK
4. E-MAIL SERVICE

The services will be activated by installation of a server system at CRES, which is connected in local network with the Internet 24 hours a day. Internet users will be able to access to the services put on line by the server by contacting the following address:

Http://mbc.cres.it

The MBC staff responsible for managing the service will access to the server by means of a PC with an appropriately configured modem and a telephone line switched direct to the MBC office in Palermo, after dialling the correct number.
The services should be activated in the first months of 1996.

DESCRIPTION OF THE SERVICES

The services will be made available to users by the creation of a hypertext navigation interface that will make it possible to associate key objects with video pages or other multimedia objects. This is now the standard navigation system on the Internet.

1. WELCOMING SYSTEM

This is MBC's first interface with Interact users and provides access to the various services.
When Internet users contact the above address, they are connected to the MBC server and enter a welcoming systern which illustrates in a maximum of three video pages:

1. the social nature of the Club
2. its purposes
3. its activities
4. the address of the Secretariat responsible for the services

These introductory pages lead to the following services:

1. bibliographic data bank
2. image data bank
3. e-mail service

2. BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATA BANK

This service gathers together all articles, publications and significant published material concerning the field of burns. Each unit filed will be defined by title, content synthesis, name of one or more authors, and one or more subjects considered.

MBC members are entitled to receive free of charge copies of sumrnaries or whole articles in the Club's possession. All applications must be sent by e-mail to the MBC Secretariat.

3. IMAGE DATA BANK

This service gathers together in a single data bank the most significant iconographic documentation in the medical field regarding burns and fire disasters, after prior cataloguing.
This service makes it possible:

1. to choose images through a selection of their contents, as recorded on the catalog card
2. to view images immediately in low-resolution format
3. to transfer low-resolution images immediately to the processing systems of Internet users
4. to request the Secretariat to send the image in acquisition resolution

MBC members are entitled to receive free of charge copies of images in the desired resolution. Applications must be sent by e-mail to the MBC Secretariat.

4. E-MAIL SERVICE

E-mail is an essential means of dialogue with other users who use geographical networks. The services will be managed by the MBC Secretariat staff from the following e-mail address:

mbcpa@cres.it

This address must be used in all communications regarding the service
The Club Secretariat has arranged for the presence of at least one operator for management of the services who will insert publications and images in the relevant data banks, reply to e-mail messages, satisfy requests from Club Members, and inform the Secretariat of the interest shown in the various services offered.

MBC - PREVENTION CAMPAIGN

The MBC, in the context of the activities laid down in its Statute and intended to promote burn prevention campaigns, has produced the following videotapes:
The Prevention of Burns in Children
The Prevention of Electrical Burns in Everyday Life
The Prevention of Electrical Burns at Work
The Prevention of Industrial Disasters
How to Defend ourselves from Fire
How to Defend ourselves from Forest Fire
The tapes have been dubbed in English, French, Arabic, Italian, Spanish, Greek and Turkish and come in two versions, U-MATIC and VHS.
All the tapes are available entirely free of charge to MBC Members who apply in writing to receive them explaining their reasons and undertaking to use them exclusively to promote a burn prevention campaign in their respective countries.
For non-members of MBC the tapes are available at a cost of US$ 25 each, including postal charges.
Please address requests to: Annals of Burns and Fire Disasters, Divisione di Chirurgia Plastica e Terapia delle Ustioni, Ospedale Civico, Via C. Lazzaro, 90127 Palermo, Italy. Tel.: 39.91.6663631 Fax: +39.91.596404.