Emergencies In Europe Research Articles

Characteristics of older patients in the largest French psychiatric emergency centre.

Despite an increasing number of adults older than 60 years with psychiatric disorders, there are few studies on older patients in psychiatric emergencies and no European data. We aimed to describe the population of patients aged 60 years and older who presented to the main French psychiatric emergency centre and identify predictors of psychiatric hospitalization. This monocentric study included 300 consecutive patients aged 60 years and older. Patients presenting because of psychiatric emergencies were frequently female and lived autonomously. More than 40% had a history of at least one psychiatric hospitalization and 44% had consulted a psychiatrist in the previous 6 months. The most common reasons for consultation were depression, anxiety, sleep disorders and suicidal thoughts. Psychiatric disorders were mainly mood disorders; neurotic, stress-related and somatoform disorders; and schizophrenic, schizotypal and delusional disorders. Only 10% had a diagnosis of organic mental disorders. Overall, 39% of the patients were admitted to the psychiatric hospital. Factors predicting hospitalization were a history of psychiatric hospitalization, suicidal thoughts and a diagnosis of a mood disorder or schizophrenia/schizotypal/delusional disorder. In conclusion, among people aged 60 years and older who consulted for psychiatric emergencies, 39% had to be hospitalized in psychiatry and only psychiatric factors influenced the decision to hospitalize. Our study highlights the need for further studies of older people in psychiatric emergencies in Europe, to anticipate the needs of this specific population and adapt multidisciplinary mental health care.

Europeans’ support for refugees of varying background is stable over time

Protracted global conflicts during the past decade have led to repeated major humanitarian protection crises in Europe. During the height of the Syrian refugee crisis at the end of 2015, Europe hosted around 2.3 million people requesting asylum1. Today, the ongoing war in Ukraine has resulted in one of the largest humanitarian emergencies in Europe since World War II, with more than eight million Ukrainians seeking refuge across Europe2. Here we explore whether repeated humanitarian crises threaten to exhaust solidarity and whether Europeans welcome Ukrainian asylum seekers over other asylum seekers3,4. We conducted repeat conjoint experiments during the 2015–2016 and 2022 refugee crises, asking 33,000 citizens in 15 European countries to evaluate randomly varied profiles of asylum seekers. We find that public preferences for asylum seekers with specific attributes have remained remarkably stable and general support has, if anything, increased slightly over time. Ukrainian asylum seekers were welcomed in 2022, with their demographic, religious and displacement profile having a larger role than their nationality. Yet, this welcome did not come at the expense of support for other marginalized refugee groups, such as Muslim refugees. These findings have implications for our theoretical understanding of the drivers and resilience of public attitudes towards refugees and for policymakers tasked to find effective responses to the enduring stress on the asylum system5–8.

Study Protocol: Adolescents of Ukraine During the Russian Invasion (AUDRI) Cohort

BackgroundSince February 14, 2022, Ukraine has once again been under attack by the Russian forces, putting the nation in one of the biggest emergencies in Europe since World War II. This puts Ukrainians at high risk of psychiatric disorders, amidst unseen attacks on infrastructure that have put massive strain on Ukraine’s mental health services. Despite this, the prevalence of psychiatric disorders among adolescents and their changes over time have not yet been documented in Ukraine during the invasion. More generally, there is a need to more comprehensively uncover the long-term consequences of war on youth, especially their risks and protective factors.MethodsThe Adolescents of Ukraine During the Russian Invasion (AUDRI) Cohort is the largest cohort of war-affected Ukrainian adolescents. We will recruit adolescents aged 15 to 18 years attending any school in Ukraine. Data collection will start early 2023, and will be held via online questionnaires every six months during the war as well as after the war has terminated. We will use several well-validated tools to screen for PTSD, depression, anxiety, substance use disorder, and eating disorders. In addition, we will ask participants about possible risks and protective factors of their mental health including resilience and social capital. Using the cohort, we will evaluate the trends in psychiatric disorder prevalence among adolescents in Ukraine over time and evaluate risks and protective factors of adolescents’ mental health.DiscussionThe AUDRI Cohort will provide a unique opportunity to learn more about trauma and resilience among youth in conflict settings, in addition to aiding international efforts to save the mental health of youth in Ukraine. At-risk adolescents identified from our study can directly become beneficiaries of targeted intervention themselves. Building evidence on the mental health of adolescents is especially valuable, as protecting the mental health of war-affected adolescents could help rebuild society and have positive consequences for generations to come.

Risk Communication and Community Engagement in Action During Ukraine's War.

In the light of recent emergencies in Europe and around the globe-including COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine-the spotlight has shifted towards the scarcity of Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) research applied to health emergencies. RCCE nurtures the sense of empowerment among communities since it ensures that individuals and communities are part of the solution creation, thus they take informed decisions to protect their health and in turn, contribute to emergency control. Therefore, RCCE can play an important role as core public health intervention across health emergency preparedness and response. However, its tremendous impact, is still underestimated and not widely common. This viewpoint showcases the RCCE measures applied to the Ukrainian emergency to ensure that Ukrainian refugees access health services in host countries, based on their needs and concerns.

Pharmacy interventions on COVID-19 in Europe: Mapping current practices and a scoping review.

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has put community pharmacists at the frontline of prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery efforts. Pharmacies had to reorganize and implement several different interventions and measures within a very short time frame.Objectives1) To map the current reported practice and trends and to review the literature on pharmacy-based interventions on COVID-19 provided in Europe; 2) To identify knowledge gaps and future avenues for pharmacy research, policy, and practice in response to public health emergencies.MethodsWe used a mixed methods approach combining country mapping of current practices of pharmacy interventions on COVID-19 reported by pharmacy associations in Europe with a scoping review of published literature.ResultsWe mapped current practices on 31 pharmacy interventions on COVID-19 in 32 countries in Europe. Almost all preventive measures to reduce health risks have been provided in most countries. Other frequent interventions reflected preparedness for stockpiling, increased demand for services and products, and important patient care interventions exceeding dispensing role. Expanded powers granted to pharmacies and legislation passed in view of COVID-19 enabled services that improve access to medicines and relevant products, patient screening and referral including point-of-care antigen testing, support to vulnerable patients, and COVID-19 vaccination. We identified 9 studies conducted in pharmacies in 7 countries in Europe. Most studies are cross-sectional and/or descriptive. Pharmacy associations played an important supporting role by developing and updating guidance and emergency plans to assist community pharmacists.ConclusionsA wide array of pharmacy interventions on COVID-19 was implemented in several countries within a very short time frame. Research on pharmacy interventions on COVID-19 is still in its infancy but confirmed the wide array of interventions provided and expanded powers granted to pharmacies. These findings may provide a significant impact to improve pharmacy research, policy, and practice in response to future public health emergencies in Europe and globally.

Guest Editorial to the Symposium on European Union Governance of Health Crisis and Disaster Management: Key Norms and Values, Concepts and Techniques

Over the past decade we have witnessed an increased readiness and growing infrastructure on the part of ‘Europe’ (EU, Council of Europe and WHO) to engage in emergency governance. Many, if not most, of the key examples centre on or implicate public health. Preparedness planning for terrorist attacks and pandemics provides perhaps the most obvious and recurrent example. But there is also the ongoing migration crisis, affecting the southern fringes of the EU in particular. Volcanic eruptions have grounded air travel for fear of lost lives from planes falling from the sky. And further back, BSE/CJD led to fears of an impact on human health as a result of farming techniques for cows. This symposium attempts to provide the groundwork for European governance of health crisis and disaster management (EHCDM) and from there to contribute towards an awareness and reflection with regard to the common core norms and values that shape the mechanisms that underpin future responses to emergencies in Europe.

SNAP House. Temporary residential module for refugees in Europe

The refugees’ crisis results one of the most relevant social and medical issues in the international panorama. The Aim of the research is to develop a design project for a refugees’ temporary housing module, able to solving specific social, typological and functional needs in the context of anthropogenic emergencies in Europe. Starting from the study of the refugee crisis’ phenomenon, through a careful analysis of case studies and by identifying the main requirements of temporary dwellings for housing emergencies, the SNAP House project presents innovative solutions related to modularity, flexibility, adaptability to the different user’s needs and it is able to ensure hygiene of spaces and indoor well-being.

State of Acute Agitation at Psychiatric Emergencies in Europe: The STAGE Study.

Background:Agitation is an array of syndromes and types of behaviors that are common in patients with psychiatric disorders. In Europe, the estimation of prevalence of agitation has been difficult due to the lack of standard studies or systematic data collection done on this syndrome.Objective:An observational, cross-sectional, multicenter study aimed to assess the prevalence of agitation episodes in psychiatric emergencies in different European countries.Method:For 1 week, all episodes of acute agitation that were attended to at the psychiatric emergency room (ER) or Acute Inpatient Unit (AIU) in the 27 participating centers were registered. The clinical characteristics and management of the agitation episode were also described. A descriptive analysis was performed.Results:A total of 334 agitation episodes out of 7295 psychiatric emergencies were recorded, giving a prevalence rate of 4.6% (95% CI: 4.12-5.08). Of them, 172 [9.4% (95% CI: 8.2-10.9)] were attended at the ER and 162 [2.8% (95% CI: 2.4-3.3)] at AIU. Only data from 165 episodes of agitation (those with a signed informed consent form) was registered and described in this report. The most common psychiatric conditions associated with agitation were schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and personality disorder. The management of agitation included from non-invasive to more coercive measures (mechanical, physical restraint or seclusion) that were unavoidable in more than half of the agitation episodes (59.5%).Conclusion:The results show that agitation is a common symptom in the clinical practice, both in emergency and inpatient psychiatric departments. Further studies are warranted to better recognize (using a standardized definition) and characterize agitation episodes.

Towards social resilience: A quantitative and qualitative survey on citizens' perception of social media in emergencies in Europe

Social media is increasingly being used during emergencies. Most available studies are focused on how citizens and/or authorities use these technologies in concrete events. However, larger quantitative studies with significant results on attitudes, needs and future plans of citizens in such events are not available - especially such of a comparative nature related to emergency services. As part of the EU project ‘EmerGent’ this article presents the findings of a survey of 1034 citizens across 30 European countries conducted between February and June 2015 to explore citizens' attitudes towards the use of social media for private purposes and in emergency situations. The article briefly compares these findings with a second survey conducted with 761 emergency service staff across 32 European countries from September to December 2014. The aim of the overall study is to discuss citizens' attitudes towards social media in emergencies in order to derive challenges and opportunities for social resilience.

NERIS Platform – An attempt to enhance European response to and recovery from radiological emergencies

The European Platform on Preparedness for Nuclear and Radiological Emergency Response and Recovery (NERIS Platform) was established in June 15, 2010. The Mission of NERIS is to promote the involvement of different stakeholders and improve public confidence in capabilities of the key players in management of nuclear and radiological emergencies in Europe. The NERIS Platform encourages European, national, regional and local authorities, technical support organisations (TSOs), operators, professional organisations, research institutes, universities, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and national and local stakeholders to co-operate in emergency management, and to facilitate access to expertise and technology in maintaining competence in the field of nuclear and radiological emergency management for the benefit of European countries and citizens. The vision is that by 2015, the self-sustaining NERIS association exists, and by 2020, all European organisations being members of the association are sharing common views and common approaches and are developing and using compatible technology and methods for consequence management of the emergencies. The NERIS Platform has, in September 2012, 43 member organisations representing stakeholders with a wide range of backgrounds, e.g. authorities, emergency centres, research organisations and the academic community. The Strategic Research Agenda (SRA), being under preparation, will provide the basis for priorities of future research and development in order to achieve the vision. The SRA therefore will communicate the future research needs, but will also be an instrument for creating synergies, co-operation and coordination internally between the NERIS participants and externally with activities taking place within other international forums.

Cocaine-Related Health Emergencies in Europe: A Review of Sources of Information, Trends and Implications for Service Development

Background: Cocaine-related health consequences are difficult to observe. Data on drug users in health-emergency settings may be a useful source of information on consequences that are not visible via other information sources. Methods: Thirty European countries submit an annual national report on the drug situation to the EMCDDA. All reports for the period 2007–2010 were analyzed, with particular attention given to auditing cocaine-related mentions. Analysis was also performed in order to identify sources and case definitions, assess coverage, audit cases and, where possible, to identify long-term trends. Results: Considerable heterogeneity existed between countries in their approach to recording drug-related emergencies, with only Spain and the Netherlands having established formal indicators. The highest annual numbers of cocaine-related episodes were reported by the UK (3,502), Spain (2,845) and the Netherlands (1,211). A considerable (2- to 3-fold) increase in the numbers of cocaine-related episodes has been reported since the end of the 1990s in these countries; these increases peaked in Spain and England around 2007/08. Conclusions: The analysis reported here suggests the need to develop more standardized approaches to monitoring drug-related emergencies. It points to the potential value of developing effective referral links between the emergency and specialized drug services working with cocaine users.

The European Project SIDARTHA using emergency care data for public health surveillance and health threat preparedness

Early detection, warning and appropriate response to health threats are essential to timely care in order to reduce negative impact to public health and society. Emergency Medical Systems is the gatekeeper to emergency care. Essential routine data are often available at the emergency medical dispatch centre, the emergency medical services or in the emergency departments. However, data are usually not combined or used for health surveillance in emergencies in Europe.

Networking for infectious-disease emergencies in Europe

Networking for infectious-disease emergencies in Europe

Heatwave of August 2003 in Europe: provisional estimates of the impact on mortality

This report may be of interest to those involved in the rapid response to communicable disease threats since much of the capacity and resources for rapid response to public health emergencies in Europe and elsewhere are to be found within the field of communicable disease

A code comparison exercise within the European project RODOS: harmonising domestic and reference tools

One term of reference for validly teaming up with Real Time Online Decision Support System for Off-Site Nuclear Emergencies in Europe (RODOS) is to contribute research initiatives geared towards emulating the RODOS functions on novel conceptual pathways; expand the system's coverage of issues that are relevant in nuclear crisis management and bring in domestic perspectives on how the system may best respond to local needs and constraints in each and every national - i.e., legal, managerial, logistic and cultural - environment. The paper reports results of a comparison between selected RODOS applications on simulated abnormal nuclear events and the concurrent application of a resident software package developed to emulate RODOS-wise functions, at IFIN-HH Bucharest. The reproducible similarity pattern obtained in data distributions provide for simple normalising procedures that may make domestic Decision Support System (DSS) facilities useful as both practical tools and factors promoting emergency preparedness awareness, during the interim time lapse until the full development and deployment of RODOS as a reference DSS in Europe.

Modelling of hydrological pathways in nuclear emergency management systems such as RODOS / Einzugsgebieten in Entscheidungshilfesystemen nach kerntechnischen Notfällen, unter besonderer Berücksichtigung des RODOS-Systems

One of the important lessons learned from the reactor accident of Chernobyl was the need for the assessment of the fate of radionuclides not only in the terrestrial but also in the aquatic environment. None of the existing emergency systems were able to predict the consequences of the high contamination of the waterbodies around Chernobyl. As hydrological transport and exchange processes are as complex as those in atmospheric science, only physically based models have the potential ability to answer all relevant questions. This paper presents an introduction into key processes when dealing with the radiological consequences of accidental releases of radionuclides to hydrological systems. In a second step, the realization of a hydrological model chain inside the RODOS system for nuclear emergencies in Europe is discussed.

Development of RODOS*, A Comprehensive Decision Support System for Nuclear Emergencies in Europe - An Overview

Development of RODOS*, A Comprehensive Decision Support System for Nuclear Emergencies in Europe - An Overview

Development of RODOS*, A Comprehensive Decision Support System for Nuclear Emergencies in Europe - An Overview

Development of RODOS*, A Comprehensive Decision Support System for Nuclear Emergencies in Europe - An Overview