Injured Persons Research Articles

First aid knowledge, attitude and awareness among nursing students: Relevance to nursing education

Background: First aid is a primary, initial, immediate and temporary care treatment to an injured person in a life-threatening situation to preserve life and minimise consequences of injuries until help from emergency medical services is obtained. Students who are expected to be working in the hospital settings should be exclusively trained regarding first aid skills that include choking, bleeding, fracture, shock, drowning, electrocution, spinal injuries, burns and scalds.Purpose: To identify the knowledge, practice, and awareness of first aid skills among first-year diploma nursing students in a private institution.Method: A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted at one private Healthcare University College in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. The quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted using an adapted questionnaire. Later on, the acquired data was entered into Statistical Package for the Social Sciences(SPSS) version 25 for data analysis as adapted from the original article. Descriptive statistical tests were used to analyse data for demographic section, knowledge, attitude and awareness of first aid skills based on the items asked. Chi-square test was then used to analyse the relationship between level of knowledge and attitude regarding first aid among the respondents. There were 126 respondents obtained by using convenience sampling which consists of first-year diploma nursing students.Results: The result showed that majority of the respondents (67.5%) had only intermediate level of knowledge while majority of the respondents (81.7%) had good attitudes regarding first aid. The majority of the respondents (67.5%) had intermediate level of awareness regarding first aid.Conclusion: From this study, the value of Chi-Square (χ²) for this analysis was 0.600 with the significant level of 0.963 (p<0.05) showing there is no relationship between the level of knowledge regarding first aid and the level of attitude towards first aid. Thus meaning, the level of knowledge does not influence by attitude of respondents towards first aid.

The pentagram of concussion: an observational analysis that describes five overt indicators of head trauma

BackgroundMultifarious clinical presentations of traumatic brain injury (TBI) makes detection difficult. Acceptance of the Fencing Response as an indicator of moderate TBI with localization to the brainstem expanded interest towards other possible indicators.MethodsWe hypothesized that an individual experiencing traumatic forces to the head resulting in concussion could display additional brainstem-mediated responses. Using YouTube™, videos were systematically evaluated for mechanical forces imposed on the head with a subsequent, observable behavior. Searches identified 9.9 million non-unique videos in which 0.01% were viewed and 79 met inclusion criteria. Videos of head injuries occurred during athletic activity (57%), assaults (38%), automobile accidents (4%) and impact by an inanimate object (1%).ResultsIndividuals with acute head injury were identified as adults (70%; n = 55), teens (29%; n = 23), and children (1.2%; n = 1). Those identified as males made up majority of injured persons (n = 77♂, 2♀). Individuals in the videos were observed to demonstrate the Fencing Response (47%; n = 37), seizing (44%; n = 35), snoring (24%; n = 19), crying (7.6%; n = 6), and vomiting (3.8%; n = 3).ConclusionEach response, which together comprise the “Pentagram of Concussion”, indicates the presence of traumatic forces to the head that present with one or more pentagram signs that would localize dysfunction to the brainstem. Clinical consideration of these responses helps to immediately identify patients at high risk for a brain injury with brainstem involvement that may have otherwise been mistaken for a different diagnosis.

Achievement of Key Performance Indicators in Initial Assessment and Care of Injured Patients in Ghanaian Non-tertiary Hospitals: An Observational Study.

We aimed to determine the level of achievement of key performance indicators (KPIs) during initial assessment and management of injured persons, as assessed by independent observers, at district and regional hospitals in Ghana. Trained observers were stationed at emergency units of six district (first level) and two regional (referral) hospitals, from October 2020 to February 2021, to observe management of injured patients by health service providers. Achievement of KPIs was assessed for all injured patients and for seriously injured patients (admitted for ≥ 24h, referred, or died). Management of 1006 injured patients was observed. Road traffic crash was the most common mechanism (63%). Completion of initial triage ranged from 65% for oxygen saturation to 92% for mobility assessment. For primary survey, airway was assessed in 77% of patients, chest examination performed in 66%, and internal abdominal bleeding assessed in 43%. Reassessment rates were low, ranging from 16% for respiratory rate to 23% for level of consciousness. Thirty-one percent of patients were seriously injured. Completion of KPIs was higher for these patients, but reassessment remained low, ranging from 25% for respiratory rate to 33% for level of consciousness. KPIs were performed at a high level, but several specific elements should be performed more frequently, such as oxygen saturation and assessment for internal abdominal bleeding. Reassessment needs to be performed more frequently, especially for seriously injured patients. Overall, care for the injured at non-tertiary hospitals in Ghana could be improved with a more systematic approach.

Spotlight on animal models of acute traumatic coagulopathy: an update

Critically injured persons suffer trauma, hemorrhage, and high mortality. A subset of such patients develops early coagulation dysfunction characterized as acute traumatic coagulopathy (ATC), with a poor prognosis. The mechanisms contributing to ATC remain incompletely understood. Notwithstanding some successes in conducting clinical trials in early traumatic coagulopathy, conducting clinical research in ATC is ethically and logistically challenging. In vitro studies cannot capture the complex pathophysiological interplay between blood, vasculature, and organ systems relevant to ATC. Animal models are therefore vital for understanding ATC and to test interventions. Previous systematic reviews of animal models of ATC covered progress up to 2014. The current review aimed to extend that coverage to the end of 2021. A structured systematic search of MEDLINE/PubMed was carried out and identified 56 relevant publications. Unlike in previous reviews, where pig models predominated, rat and pig models contributed equally (19 studies each), and non-human primate models entered the field. Most studies now featured defined trauma (39 of 56), and hemorrhage controlled by pressure or volume (42 studies), with some documenting that both were necessary to induce ATC. Most studies documented coagulopathy using clotting or viscoelastometric assays and created an endogenous coagulopathy not dependent on iatrogenic dilution. As before, the diversity of species and experimental protocols may limit the translatability of the identified studies. Thus, while animal research has become more aligned to clinical realities since 2014, further efforts are required to unravel ATC mechanisms and enable the prediction and evaluation of optimal clinical interventions.

Combined person classification with airborne optical sectioning

Fully autonomous drones have been demonstrated to find lost or injured persons under strongly occluding forest canopy. Airborne optical sectioning (AOS), a novel synthetic aperture imaging technique, together with deep-learning-based classification enables high detection rates under realistic search-and-rescue conditions. We demonstrate that false detections can be significantly suppressed and true detections boosted by combining classifications from multiple AOS—rather than single—integral images. This improves classification rates especially in the presence of occlusion. To make this possible, we modified the AOS imaging process to support large overlaps between subsequent integrals, enabling real-time and on-board scanning and processing of groundspeeds up to 10 m/s.

Livelihood Pattern and Health Seeking Behavior of Working Children in Khulna City

Working children are those groups of children under age 18 who engage in any form of work by which they are deprived of their childhood. Seeking behavior means the medical attention given to seeking or injured person or animal for their better health condition. The goal of the revision is to explore the livelihood pattern and health pursuing behavior of the working children in Khulna city. The study is explanatory and descriptive in nature and the survey method is conducted with an interview schedule. The study is carried out on 166 respondents through simple random sampling. The findings indicate that working children come from poor families. They have to work to support their family at an early age. This study reveals that around 42 percent of the participants belong to the age group of 13-15 years old. Their educational qualification is also very low, around 54 percent of the participants enrolled in class 1 to 5 but a great amount of participants has no formal education. The respondents live in the urban area but their corporeal state is not good. The working children do not get enough food for their survival. They are not aware of their own rights due to illiteracy. Also, the majority of the participants do not get the proper facilities from working place, and around 68 percent are tortured in graft places. They are discriminated against by their employee. Even the maximum of them (64.5%) do not use safety protection during their work time consequently sometimes they are injured physically. Besides these, they suffer from various diseases but they do not get suitable cures due to poverty in addition to illiteracy. Working children face different sorts of abuse in their working place (65.7%). Though they get help from the government there is very little for their betterment. So government and NGOs can play a very vital role to remove this discrimination besides social awareness is very far necessary to combat this problem.

Effect Of Structured Teaching Programme (STP) On Knowledge Regarding Selected First Aid Measures Among School Teachers In Selected Schools, Kamrup (M), Assam.

“Today’s children are tomorrow’s citizen”. The future pillars of the nation and future of the nation rests on the hands of the children health today. School children being more active and adventuresome, they are prone to falls, sports injury, drowning, vehicle accidents, etc. At this age, children may think they are invincible and that accidents and injuries happen to other people and not to them. First aid is the provision of initial care for an illness or injury. It is usually performed by non-expert, but trained personnel to a sick or injured person until definitive medical treatment can be accessed. It is important to know First Aid so that you can be a help to yourself or others that may be injured. Every school establishment shall have as a minimum one member of staff who is a trained first aider and two emergency first aiders in the work place. In our study Pre-experimental one group pre-test post-test research design and quantitative evaluative research approach was undertaken among school teachers in Radiant International School and Rajdhani Public School, Sonapur, Kamrup (M), Assam. The sample consisted of 62 school teachers and convenience sampling technique was adopted to select the samples. The tools used for data collection was demographic proforma and structured knowledge questionnaire regarding selected first aid measures. The objective of the study is to assess the effect of structured teaching programme (STP) on knowledge regarding selected first aid measures among school teachers. The results showed that there was marked increase in post-test knowledge. In knowledge,the mean post-test knowledge score (22.76) was higher than the mean pre-test knowledge score (13.35) and mean difference between the pre-test and post-test score was 9.41. The calculated ‘t-value’ was 4.10 and p value was 0.000062 at 0.05 level of significance. This indicates that the structured teaching programme regarding selected first aid measures was effective in improving the knowledge of school teachers. The present study concluded that structured teaching programme (STP) regarding selected first aid measures has an effect in enhancing the knowledge among school teachers. Hence, the structured teaching programme can be utilized by school teachers to provide first aid measures in emergency situation and prevent its complication among school children.

Educating and Empowering Inner-City High School Students in Bleeding Control

IntroductionUnintentional bleeding is the leading cause of death in people 1–44 years of age in the United States. The Stop the Bleed (STB) campaign is a nationwide course that teaches the public to ensure their own safety, call 911, find the bleeding injury, and achieve temporary hemorrhage control by several techniques. Although the national campaign for the training course was inspired by active shooter events, the training can be applied to motor vehicle accidents and small-scale penetrating and gunshot wounds. Extending the audience to inner-city high school students in a violence-prone neighborhood has the potential to save lives if they are first on the scene.ObjectivesWe hypothesized that students would have a greater degree of comfort, willingness, and preparedness to intervene in acute bleeding after taking the course.MethodsThis was a prospective, interventional pilot study in one inner-city high school in Brooklyn, New York. Students were given the option to participate in the STB course with pre- and post-surveys. We recruited 286 students from physical education or health education class to take a 50-minute bleeding control training course. Mean age was 15.7 years old. Students were divided into groups of 20–25 and taught by 2–3 emergency medicine, pediatric, or trauma surgery STB instructors. Each course included 2–3 skills stations for placing a tourniquet, wound packing, and pressure control.ResultsPrior to the course, only 43.8% of the students reported being somewhat likely or very likely to help an injured person who was bleeding. After the course, this increased to 80.8% of students even if no bleeding control kit was available. Additionally, there were significant improvements in self-rated comfort level from pre- to post-course 45.4% to 76.5%, and in self-rated preparedness from 25.1% to 83.8%. All three measures showed statistically significant improvement, P <.0001.ConclusionTeaching the STB course to high school students from a community with high levels of violence resulted in increased comfort level, willingness, and preparedness to act to control bleeding. If these opinions translate into action, students’ willingness to act could decrease pre-hospital blood loss and empower youth to perform life-saving interventions.

Essentialities of ratifying CED in Thailand: Human Rights amid Covid-19 Pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic delayed the ratification of several internal laws, reforms, and amendments, especially in developing countries such as Thailand, resulting in limited human rights for the populations. There is a unique violation of human rights inclusive of the right to life, the right not to be tortured, the right to liberty and safety of persons which are very important to international and civil society. This research explores the enforcement measures of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (CED). Thailand is currently in the process of ratifying its membership in CED. This ratification process will contribute towards Thailand for holding an important position to fulfill its obligations as a State Party member of this Convention. Thailand has been drafting internal laws and regulations to be consistent with the CED to recognize and protect lawful human rights. People must not be forced to disappear because such action is a serious criminal offence that must be punished appropriately under the CED. In addition, the injured persons shall be treated fairly and equally in accordance with the objectives and purpose of CED, and the Member of Parliament (MP) shall legislate and support the enactment in accordance with the Convention's obligations. In accordance with international mechanisms, these measures will further enhance the promotion and protection of Thailand's human rights. Therefore, Thailand should complete the ratification process at the earliest to develop more efficient domestic legal measures and mechanisms. Similarly, ratification would be consistent with Article 16 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will contribute to security and enhance a peaceful society by providing access to justice to all people in Thailand. Doi: 10.28991/esj-2022-SPER-05 Full Text: PDF

Influence of committed volunteers on helping behavior in emergency evacuations

We study how the presence of committed volunteers influences the collective helping behavior in emergency evacuation scenarios. In this study, committed volunteers do not change their decision to help injured persons, implying that other evacuees may adapt their helping behavior through strategic interactions. An evolutionary game theoretic model is developed which is then coupled to a pedestrian movement model to examine the collective helping behavior in evacuations. By systematically controlling the number of committed volunteers and payoff parameters, we have characterized and summarized various collective helping behaviors in phase diagrams. From our numerical simulations, we observe that the existence of committed volunteers can promote cooperation but adding additional committed volunteers is effective only above a minimum number of committed volunteers. This study also highlights that the evolution of collective helping behavior is strongly affected by the evacuation process.

Оrgan-preserving operations in the abdominal gun-shot penetrating woundings of large bowel. Experience of the medical help delivery in military environment Аntiterroristic operation/The Joint Forces Operation

Objective. To improve the results of treatment in injured persons with a gun-shot penetrating abdominal woundings with damages of large bowel, using introduction of principle for compliance between volumes of the damage and the primary operative intervention through organ-preserving operations.&#x0D; Materials and methods. There were analyzed 164 gun-shot abdominal woundings of large bowel in 151 injured persons. All the wounded persons were men, aged from 19 to 58 yrs old, (34 ± 5.2) yrs old at average. Penetrating cross-cutting abdominal woundings have occurred in 48 (31.8%) patients, the blunt – in 103 (68.2%). In accordance to character of the large bowel damage there were: deserozation - in 8 (5.3%) injured persons, the blunt wounding – in 57 (37.7%), and a through one – in 86 (57.0%). The bullet woundings have occurred in 31 (20.5%) injured persons, while the comminuted – in 120 (79.5%). The large bowel woundings have had following localizations: coecum – in 37 (24.5%) patients, ascending colon – 19 (12.6%), transverse colon – 32 (21.2%), descending colon – 18 (11.9%), sigmoid colon – 33 (21.9%), and several perts of large bowel – 12 (7.9%). The wounded persons were distributed into two groups, depending on volume of the operative intervention performed: the main – 49 (32.4%) wounded persons, in whom organ-preserving operations were performed, and a control one – 102 (67.6%) wounded persons, in whom resectional methods were applied. The large bowel wall defects suturing with or without formation of unloading colo- or enterostomy were considered as organ-preserving operations.&#x0D; Results. Definite decision, concerning the operative intervention volume, was made immediately after revision of the abdominal cavity organs, estimation of the damages character (special attention was drawn to dimensions, localization and quantity of intestinal defects, the state of its mesenterial edge and adequacy of a blood flow), presence and remoteness of extended peritonitis, general state of a wounded person (the blood loss volume, the sepsis features presence, hemodynamicac indices and common character of the woundings). Оne or several woundings of large bowel, including big in dimensions, were considered as indications for performance of organ-preserving operations (the intestinal wound suturing, the intestinal wound suturing with colo- or jejunostomy, extraperitonization). In patients of the main group, comparing with those of the control group, the stationary stay and the complications rate were reduced. After rehabilitation and staged closure of unloading stomas all wounded persons of the main group went back to service in Military Forces of Ukraine.&#x0D; Conclusion. Selecting the surgical treatment method for the gun-shot woundings of large bowel, it is necessary to base on complex analysis of the battle trauma character, the patient’s state and the risk for іntra- and postoperative complications. The first-line application of organ-preserving interventions as more physiological and those, which permit mostly rapid come back to the service duties functioning, is expedient. While choosing the organ-preserving operation volume, the surgeon must adhere to principle of compliance between the damage volume and prevalence, general state of a wounded person and the operative intervention volume.

Skeletal polytrauma: prognostication and prophylaxis of embolic complications

Objective. Improvement of the treatment results in injured persons with skeletal polytrauma.&#x0D; Materials and methods. In the investigation 240 patients, suffering skeletal polytrauma, took part. In the Admittance-Diagnostic Department and the Department of Intensive Therapy various scales of assessment were used for objectivisation of its state of severity in the injured persons.&#x0D; Results. The main risk factors for the venous thromboembolism were established in accordance to results of the investigation conducted: skeletal trauma (sensitivity 85%), durable bed-rest regime (sensitivity 94%), untimely surgical osteosynthesis (sensitivity 96%), severity of state – assessment in accordance to shortened scale of damages of 3 points and higher, in accordance to the injury severity scale of 16 points and higher (sensitivity 88%), non-compliance for the pharmacological thrombo-prophylactic regime (sensitivity 94%).&#x0D; Conclusion. Basing on the results obtained, a clinical route of the medical help delivery for patients, suffering skeletal polytrauma, was introduced into the practice, what have permitted to lower the rate of venous thromboembolism from 25.8 to 15% (χ2 =13.07, p=0.001), and the rate of the fat embolism syndrome - from 19.2 t0 3.3% (χ2 =15.07, p=0.001).

CHANGES IN FUNCTIONING OF THE EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION SYSTEM AND THE 112 EMERGENCY NUMBER IN POLAND

Introduction. Striving to improve performance should be a characteristic feature of any system. This particularly concerns systems dedicated to the protection of human life and health. The efficiency of these systems often decides about the survival of an injured person. Such a system is the emergency notification system, which has been functioning in Poland since 2013, responsible for the efficient operation of the emergency number 112. Results and discussion. The article presents the organization of the emergency notification system, which operates throughout Poland in a continuous system. Emergency numbers are handled by Rescue Notification Centres, which operate in 16 voivodships and additionally in the capital city of the country - Warsaw. Since the launch of the emergency notification system, several changes have been introduced, aimed at improving its efficiency and enhancing the functionality of the 112 emergency number. It has been assumed that the emergency notification system consists of the emergency notification centres (CPR), constituting a uniform system for handling emergency calls directed to the emergency number 112. Handing over such a call enables the initiation of the rescue procedure and involvement of relevant rescue resources. Specific rescue tasks in the system are performed by medical rescue units, fire brigades and police. Many other services also cooperate with the system, such as gas and electricity emergency services. Conclusions. As a result of the study, it was concluded that changes in the emergency notification system contributed to increasing its efficiency. Integration of the fire brigade (998) and police (997) emergency numbers under a common 112 number enables a quick rescue action and dispatching the appropriate formation. The change of positions in Rescue Notification Centres should also be assessed positively. Emergency number operators can be promoted and improve their qualifications. It has been acknowledged that non-alarm notifications, which block the system and increase the financial costs of its operation, are still a problem in the functioning of the emergency notification system. Therefore,continuous education of the public should be carried out in order to raise awareness of the principles of use of the emergency number 112.

Electromagnetic Radiation Monitoring and Rescue Equipment Based on Communication

In case of electromagnetic radiation pollution caused by an accident, it is necessary to monitor the accident site at to facilitate rescue personnel to carry out rescue operations in time according to the site conditions. The technical problem to be solved in this paper is to overcome the defects of the existing technology and provide an electromagnetic radiation monitoring and rescue equipment based on communication. We connect the control host with the remote to observe the rescue area remotely. When an abnormality is found, a reminder will be sent to ensure the life safety of rescue personnel. When an injured person is found, the on-site rescue workers can be notified to facilitate the rescue work.

Regspraak: Troosgeld is deel van ’n reghebbende se afsonderlike boedelbates en nie deel van die gemeenskaplike boedel nie – verpligte deling troos nie

Although a husband and wife married in community of property share by default, if not design, all their patrimonial assets in the common estate, the solatium or compensation received by an injured person as satisfaction for the unjustified injury to his or her personality rights is not supposed to form part of the common estate – simply because it happened to be received in the form of a patrimonial asset. It is meant to be private or separate and for the comfort of the injured only. The purpose of the compensation received as solatium is not to fill a vacuum left by the delict in the injured party’s assets, but to serve as the only mode of solace available to law to provide redress for the wrong. Other than the position where a patrimonial asset of the claimant had been damaged, eg by the negligent car accident caused by the respondent, and where the awarded damages neatly compensate the wronged party for the damage caused, thereby placing the total estate in the same position where it was before the intervening delict, the solatium paid to the injured for the non-patrimonial damages suffered by the delictual inroad on his/her personality rights is not supposed to redress a negative impact on the total estate of the wronged. The spouse of the injured party, even where they are married in community of property, would never have been able to lay claim to those personality traits or attributes of the other spouse. Personality rights, per definition, never form part of the assets of any patrimonial estate and should not be shared simply because the matrimonial property regime happens to be community of property. The legislature correctly stipulated in section 18(a) of the Matrimonial Property Act 88 of 1984: “Notwithstanding the fact that a spouse is married in community of property – (a) any amount recovered by him or her by way of damages, other than damages for patrimonial loss, by reason of a delict committed against him or her, does not fall into the joint estate but becomes his or her separate property” – emphasis added. This formulation echoes what has been the legal position for ages. Along those lines Hiemstra J in Potgieter v Potgieter correctly held that the amount awarded as contumelia to the injured husband for the harm done to his personality rights by the adultery of his wife and the third party, would not form part of the joint estate but would be his separate property. In so doing, the court precluded the adulteress from further sharing in the spoils of her doing. In the underlying decision by the majority of the supreme court of appeal, however, it was held that section 18(a) should be read to be limited: “The context of s 18 must be read in its entirety, and apparent therefrom is the plain language and words used. [This] … section highlights that delictual damages received by a spouse during the course of a marriage in community of property, which are nonpatrimonial in nature (s 18(a)); and damages for bodily injuries owing to the fault of one’s spouse in terms of s 18(b) must be excluded from the division of the joint estate on divorce” (par 9 – emphasis added). In this case a very significant amount was received by the lady for the non-patrimonial loss suffered by her more than four years before the marriage had been concluded. According to the reading-in exercise of the supreme court of appeal it was not received “during the course of the marriage” and not ringfenced. As a consequence, the court upheld the appeal of the erstwhile husband after a marriage of very short duration (barely two years). He consequently successfully laid claim to fifty per cent of the more than half a million paid as non-patrimonial compensation to his wife, more than four years before he married her in community of property and only after becoming aware of the significant amount of that compensation invested by her. This decision not only flies in the face of logic and the legal principles underlying South African common law; it is in conflict with the latest developments in comparable Continental legal systems sharing the same historical and societal foundations as the South African law. This judgment provides poor consolation and it leaves a deeply imbedded discomfort, because the result is vehemently contrary to the outcome in comparable legal systems for a similar scenario. Dividing the solatium under the pretext of a division of the joint estate diminishes the solace intended for the injured.

Criteria for assessing the severity of the lesion and the outcome of the electric injury, depending on the parameters of the current and its pathways

The purpose of the work is to establish the relationship between the magnitudes of the electric current and clinical and physiological manifestations (outcome) on the basis of data from special literature. When performing forensic medical examinations, questions are often raised about the possibility of saving the life of an injured person in the provision of timely medical care, as well as the possibility of taking active actions after causing damages. The totality of the above information will enable to answer these questions reasonably. Besides, the data summarized in the article are necessary when planning experimental work in the study of electropathology and when conducting biomedical tests.

Assessment of the Knowledge Level of First Aid among Medical Students in Work Environment.

First aid is one of the most important life-saving skills a health provider specifically or anybody generally must have. It can be defined as the first treatment one provides at the site of the accident to the injured person until full medical treatment is available. In some emergency situations, simple first aid can make a life-or-death difference. Aim. This study is designed to evaluate the knowledge of first aid among medical students at KSAU-HS in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Methods. The cross-sectional study is conducted in KSAU-HS, Riyadh, about the knowledge of first aid among medical students. A self-administered structured questionnaire is used for the purpose of data collection. The main variables are as follows: to compare the knowledge of first aid between male and female medical students, among different years of study, and identify the percentage that have knowledge of first aid. Results. Out of 326 students, 10 students (3.1%) scored excellent, 99 (30.4%) good, 136 (41.7%) average, 75 (23%) poor, and 6 (1.8%) very poor. Conclusion. The level of knowledge improved with the advancement in years, but this was not sufficient, and more training should be given to all medical students on first aid.

The Efficiency of Drones Usage for Safety and Rescue Operations in an Open Area: A Case from Poland

The use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) is becoming increasingly frequent during search and rescue (SAR) operations conducted to find missing persons. These systems have proven to be particularly useful for operations executed in the wilderness, i.e., in open and mountainous areas. The successful implementation of those systems is possible thanks to the potential offered by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which help achieve a considerable reduction in operational times and consequently allow a much quicker finding of lost persons. This is crucial to enhance their chances of survival in extreme conditions (withholding hydration, food and medicine, and hypothermia). The paper presents the results of a preliminary assessment of a search and rescue method conducted in an unknown terrain, where groups were coordinated with the use of UAVs and a ground control station (GCS) workstation. The conducted analysis was focused on assessing conditions that would help minimise the time of arrival of the rescue team to the target, which in real conditions could be a missing person identified on aerial images. The results of executed field tests have proven that the time necessary to reach injured persons can be substantially shortened if imaging recorded by UAV is deployed, as it considerably enhances the chance of survival in an emergency situation. The GCS workstation is also one of the crucial components in the search system, which assures image transmission from the UAV to participants of the search operation and radio signal amplification in a difficult terrain. The effectiveness of the search system was tested by comparing the arrival times of teams equipped with GPS and a compass and those not equipped with such equipment. The article also outlined the possibilities of extending the functionality of the search system with the SARUAV module, which was used to find a missing person in Poland.

Reconciliation of parties in a private prosecution case

The article is a result of the conducted research, devoted to a participant of criminal proceedings, as a private prosecutor, the procedural order of the main trial in cases of private prosecution is considered. The article reveals some peculiarities of court proceedings, such as reconciliation of an injured person with a guilty person, which allows to eliminate the conflict between them and normalize the situation. Private prosecution has an important procedural value, as it allows to clearly define a specific moment of the beginning of the trial, which in turn provides control over the procedural timing of the proceedings, as well as the possibility of exercising their rights by all interested persons within the framework of their legal status. At this point, the participants in the process acquire a certain procedural status and are endowed with the relevant procedural rights and obligations. In order to terminate such criminal cases in connection with the reconciliation of the victim with the accused, it is not enough just to express the will of the parties, as well as to compensate the guilty person for the damage caused to the victim. At the same time, a criminal case may be terminated only in respect of a person brought to justice for the first time. However, compliance with all the conditions specified in the law does not mean the unconditional termination of the criminal case. Termination of a criminal case in order to reconcile the parties is the right, not the duty of the court. Keywords: private prosecutor, trial, defendant, private prosecution cases, judge, sentence, Institute of reconciliation of the parties.

Basic concepts of radiation emergency medicine

Nuclear and radiological accidents are not frequent but may lead to major consequences in the population. For the health systems, the need to handle a large number of victims will probably remain as an exception. However, a high number of affected victims can be expected in some terrorist scenarios. In addition, medical accidents in radiotherapy, fluoroscopy and diagnostic radiology have increased the number of patients with severe radiation injuries considerably, especially in developed countries. Given the increased use of ionising radiation for industrial and medical purposes and new technological applications emerging, the number of accidents may increase in the future. Consequently, the early identification and adequate management of these emergencies is a priority, as well as the need for medical preparedness, requiring knowledge about various emergency scenarios and planning appropriate responses to them before they occur. Unfortunately, medical professionals have a substantial knowledge gap in identifying and treating injured persons affected by ionising radiation. As managing radiation accidents is a very challenging process, exercises must be carried out to organise a well-trained multidisciplinary group of professionals to manage any radiation accident properly. Efforts on a continuously updated guidance system should be developed. In addition, new approaches to foster sustainable interdisciplinary and international cooperative networks on radiation injuries are necessary. Lessons learned from past nuclear and radiological emergencies have significantly contributed to strengthening scientific knowledge and increasing the available medical information on the effects of ionising radiation in the human body. In this context, radiation emergency medicine has emerged as a discipline that contributes to the diagnosis, treatment, medical follow-up and prognosis of persons affected by radiation injuries in a nuclear or a radiological emergency. In this paper, we review some relevant concepts related to the medical preparedness and multidisciplinary response required to attend to persons affected by these emergencies.