Emergency response of medical forces at cross-departmental exercises “Safe Arctic-2023”

Abstract

Relevance. On April 6, 2023 large-scale cross-departmental experimental and research exercises took place for the forces of the Common Public System of Emergency Prevention and Response in the Russian Arctic, called ‘Safe Arctic - 2023’. The exercises focused on elimination of medical and sanitary consequences of man-made accidents at the Kostomuksha Mining and Treatment facility (Republic of Karelia).The objective is to analyse and summarise emergency response experience of rescuers and medical forces within the framework of cross-departmental exercises in the Russian Arctic, to assess first aid and emergency medical responses, provided to victims in emergency scenarios.Methods. The exercises were participated by over 100 rescuers, workers and volunteers, with 17 units of emergency and fire rescue equipment, 4 emergency response ambulances, and a MI-8 helicopter with medevac units available for medical evacuation of 12 injured patients. Seven top professional experts assessed medical response and evacuation on a 5-score scale (with 5 as the highest score). We studied medical documents (patient medical records, medical triage tags, expert scoring), verified statistic distribution and validated calculations using Student’s t-test for discrete unrelated samples.Results and discussion. Experts highly appreciated the quality of first aid with rescuers scoring (4.6 ± 0.3) points, while medical triage scored (4.7 ± 0.2) points, emergency pre-medical, medical and specialised medical treatment of the injured scored (4.6 ± 0.2) points. Patient triage demonstrated high-quality, with life-threatening injuries and traumas accurately identified; patients were accurately diagnosed and triaged for evacuation. During medical evacuation, emergency medical care was provided to all the injured in a comprehensive and timely manner, with no discrepancies in diagnoses.Conclusion. The resulting xpert assessments of the cross-departmental experimental and research exercises ‘Safe Arctic – 2023’ showed significantly high quality of first aid, medical triage and emergency medical care during evacuation, though not without imperfections. The organising committee received recommendations regarding ways to improve cross-departmental cooperation in first aid and medical care in emergency scenarios; these recommendations were formulated in the final report.