On-site Transportation Research Articles

Hazard, risk, reliability assessment and improvement of Darlington Tritium Removal Facility (DTRF) cryogenic refrigeration system

Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen, produced in heavy water, during CANDU reactor operations by neutron absorption. The tritium removal facility at Darlington (DTRF) is used to extract tritium from the heavy water on a continuous basis and concentrates it in preparation for immobilization and storage. There are several internal and external hazards associated with the operation of DTRF, such as fires, onsite transportation accidents, exposure to radioactive materials, explosion due to Hydrogen (H2) and the release of radioactive substances from the Tritium Immobilization System. This paper conducts a risk analysis for the DTRF Cryogenic Refrigeration System, associated with both Low and High Tritium Distillation columns. This study includes hazard identification, consequence analysis and risk estimation. Fault Tree and Event Tree Analysis conducted, system reliability, availability and human reliability was considered. Consequently, methods for risk reduction and integration with improvement to CRS design is discussed.

Assessing the environmental impact of construction waste management in northern Thailand: An approach to estimate greenhouse gas emissions and cumulative energy demand

Over the past century, the world has grappled with the looming challenge of climate change, with the construction sector emerging as a significant greenhouse gas emitter. This research aims to estimate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, cumulative energy demand (CED), and associated disposal costs by applying life cycle assessment (LCA) principles to the disposal of construction materials in northern Thailand. The study employs LCA as the analytical method, focusing on the disposal of concrete, steel, and wood waste from residential construction projects. The life cycle inventory analysis investigates waste management practices, including on-site landfilling, recycling, and transportation with an average distance of 30 km. The findings reveal that concrete waste is the primary contributor, with transportation playing a pivotal role. In the conventional case, total GHG emissions reach 38.624 kgCO2eq/m2, with CED at 12.991 MJ/m2 and disposal costs totaling 420.97 THB/m2. Three waste management scenarios are explored: Scenario 1 (50% on-site landfilling, 50% reuse/recycling), Scenario 2 (75% on-site landfilling, 25% transportation landfill), and Scenario 3 (100% on-site concrete landfilling, 100% steel reuse/recycling, 100% wood waste landfilling). Scenario 3 shows a significant 20.3% reduction in GHG emissions, a 90.5% decrease in CED, and a disposal cost reduction of 20.9% compared to the conventional case. This study underscores the importance of strategic waste management decisions, highlighting the potential of sustainable practices to foster an eco-friendly construction sector. Its findings offer valuable insights and recommendations, advocating for refined strategies like prioritizing recycling, optimizing transportation, and minimizing incineration to effectively reduce emissions and promote environmental responsibility in construction.

Research on carbon emission quantification and evaluation for prefabricated inverted arch construction in drill and blast tunnels

Drill and blast methods cannot meet the requirements of modern tunnel construction in terms of efficiency and carbon emissions. This study proposes a prefabricated inverted arch construction technology and carbon emission calculation method applicable to drill and blast tunnels. The carbon emissions during prefabricated inverted arch construction were calculated, and the carbon emission model for on-site transportation was optimized. The indirect impact of improved construction efficiency on carbon emissions was discussed, further refining the carbon emission evaluation system for drill and blast tunnels. The results show that (1) The new technology of prefabricated inverted arch significantly improves construction efficiency and has promising application prospects; (2) Carbon emissions during prefabricated inverted arch construction are 9051.67 tCO2eq less than those during cast-in-place construction, with a reduction of over 15%, mainly due to reduced cement and steel usage resulting from optimized arch structure; (3) Considering the limitations of material transportation due to tunnel excavation distance, the carbon emission model for on-site transportation is optimized, resulting in a reduction of 35%–56% in on-site transportation emissions; (4) Incorporating the indirect impact of improved construction efficiency on carbon emissions into the calculation model, this indirect effect accounts for approximately 70% of the total emission reduction achieved by the prefabricated inverted arch technology.

Evaluation of Solid Medical Waste Management in Bogor Regional Public Hospitals

Healthcare facilities generate medical waste. If not properly managed, medical waste can damage the environment and spread diseases. Many hospitals in Indonesia do not adhere to medical waste management regulations. This study aimed to evaluate the management of solid medical waste at four public hospitals in Bogor District, Indonesia. A case study design was used to obtain a comprehensive description of the solid medical waste management activities in the hospitals. Data were collected through direct observations, interviews, and document reviews. This study revealed that the medical waste generated in all hospitals was infectious, pathological, pharmaceutical, chemical, and cytotoxic, totaling approximately 4,000-12,000 kg. Hospitals A, B, C, and D fulfilled the Ministry of Environment and Forestry Regulation No. P56 of 2015 criteria, achieving compliance rates of 77%, 83.78%, 83.3%, and 86.48%, respectively. However, several activities of the hospitals did not meet the standards for waste reduction, segregation, on-site transport, temporary storage, and human resource quality. It is important that hospitals establish comprehensive and compliant medical waste management systems.

Environmental economic profiles of expressway construction via life cycle assessment

The construction process of expressway is characterized by high energy and materials consumption, which poses overwhelming potential threat to the physical environment. In order to coordinate contradiction between expressway construction and concomitant environment issues, this study quantitatively assessed environmental impact of different sub-projects and presented an environmental price model to characterize the overall environmental impact of construction materials. The results showed that the bridge, culvert, and tunnel sub-projects produced the most significant environmental impact. Compared with onsite construction and transportation, material production contributed the largest proportion (approximately 90%) of the life cycle environmental impact. Most of the environmental burdens were only associated with a few types of materials (e.g., steel, iron, and cement). Steel, in particular, contributed to 29.73%–80.47% in the four categories of environmental impact (including global warming potential (GWP), fine particulate matter production (FPMF), terrestrial acidification (TA), and ozone formation health (OF-H) in four sub-projects (including bridge and culvert, tunnel, safety measures and embedded pipelines (SMEP), and green and environmental protection facilities (GEPF)).Notably, certain materials contributed significantly to only specific environmental impact categories of environmental impact. Cement, wood, and explosives contributed significantly to GWP, land use (LU), and substance of ozone depletion (SOD)contributing 51.55%, 70.87%, and 54.95%, respectively. Environmental impact ratio can indicate the matching degree between the environmental impact of a material and its production process. For some materials with high environmental impact ratio, such as iron, brick and cement, a focus on green update and iteration of production technologies of such construction materials are required. This study identifies the environmentally sensitive links of different expressway construction sub-projects and provides a decision-making basis for the selection of construction materials and upgradation and iteration of production technologies from the perspective of environmental price, thus providing scientific guidance to green expressway construction.

Off-Site Manufacturing: Determining Decision-Making Factors

New technologies like modular construction are expected to increase the market share in developing countries with a high annual growth rate such as in Egypt. Modular construction solutions that have content depending on the process of off-site construction and on-site transportation gained prominence over recent years due to several benefits, especially their positive impact on the environment. Off-site manufacturing (OSM) and traditional technologies like on-site ones differ in many aspects of design, requirements, logistics, engineering, and others. Many researchers studied modular construction and they fall short of investigating modular construction processes comprehensively and completely. In this paper, the barriers and benefits of using off-site manufacturing (OSM) are collected from the previous studies (that focused on mega projects, high quality, and fast-track projects) to be analyzed using a social network analysis (SNA) to promote the implementation of this new technology mainly in high-annual-growth-rate countries. A survey was used to solicit the opinions of construction practitioners to identify the most significant barriers and obstacles, as well as the benefits of using OSM. Also, due to the capabilities of Building Information Modeling (BIM) to manage shared information and increase the cooperation among project parties, the integration of OSM and BIM is investigated as a promising approach to overcome OSM barriers and enhance its utilization. Analyzing the main barriers’ density and finding out the main solution are involved. Applying this case to a real project in Egypt to study the impact of using (OSM) on-site and exporting the data are also involved. With some results related to the other results and disadvantages that were deduced, the most important advantages and most disadvantages emerged, as well as finding ways to solve them and practical application on the ground.

Holistic Review of Construction Process Carbon-Reduction Measures: A Systematic Literature Review Approach

The fragmented nature of construction operations makes it challenging to implement carbon-reduction strategies. However, attaining a holistic construction sector decarbonisation hinges upon ensuring all aspects of a construction project’s lifecycle are decarbonised, including the construction process stage. Therefore, to mitigate the implementation challenge of reducing the levels of carbon involved in construction processes, this study attempts to synthesise and categorise carbon-reduction strategies that could be employed to decrease the carbon footprint during a construction projects’ delivery. To achieve the aim of this study, a systematic literature review approach was adopted. Based on this technique, a total of 26 relevant articles within the built environment research area were eligible for the study, and their analysis revealed 56 carbon minimisation measures, which were summarised into nine distinct categories to ease their application and overcome the construction operations’ complexities. The nine categories include material transport, waste transport, materials and equipment, waste, materials, on-site office, on-site lighting, on-site transportation of material and equipment, and construction methods. The findings of this study provide contractors with a suite of measures that can be deployed to reduce the carbon impact of construction project delivery.

MANAGEMENT OF LIQUID MEDICAL WASTES IN SELECTED HOSPITALS IN YOLA, ADAMAWA STATE, NIGERIA

Liquid medical waste management has been a critical challenge in healthcare facilities and poses a severe threat to public health, particularly in developing countries. As such, this study was conducted to assess the prevailing practices of managing Liquid Medical Wastes in selected Hospitals in Yola, Nigeria, to improve on the existing practices and mitigate the dangers of mishandling liquid medical waste. One hundred and eight structured questionnaires were administered to healthcare workers and waste contract staff. Visits were made to various locations to observe the entire process of liquid medical waste (LMW) generation and its ultimate disposal. The data were subjected to a t-test using SPSS version 23.0. The study revealed that the major types of LMW reported by respondents were infectious wastes, with Hospital One (H1) reporting 69% and Hospital Two (H2) reporting 78%. The least common types of LMW generated were pharmaceutical waste, with H1 at 12% and H2 at 10%. The different types of LMW generated between H1 and H2 did not exhibit any significant distinction (P > 0.05). The various techniques used in managing LMW at the selected hospitals include segregation, temporary storage, treatment, and on-site transportation. There was a significant difference between H1 and H2 in terms of the techniques used in managing LMW (P = < 0.05). The study revealed that H2 doesn’t treat their LMW before disposal as compared to H1, where LMW from the laboratories was autoclaved before being taken to the incinerator on-site for further treatment.

Analyzing embodied energy and embodied water for university buildings using input-output-based hybrid method

Buildings present a unique opportunity to not just effectively decrease global energy use but also drastically reduce nearly 40% of global carbon emissions to help mitigate the ongoing climate change. Although most of the building energy use is attributed to building operations as operational energy (OE), a portion of it is termed embodied energy (EE) that is consumed in building construction, transportation, and material production activities. EE of a building, therefore, includes energy consumed directly in onsite and offsite construction and transportation and indirectly through material consumption since each construction material consumes energy in its production and transportation. Like EE, buildings also consume significant amounts of fresh water directly and indirectly as embodied water (EW) in their construction, which is becoming a major concern globally. As fresh water is also depleted in producing and refining energy sources used as EE, a portion of this EW is attributed to energy-related water use (EREW). Most research so far has been focusing on the energy and carbon emission dimensions of buildings overlooking the equally important aspect of water use, which is also crucial for delivering a truly environmentally sustainable building. In this study, an input-output-based hybrid (IOH) model is created to compute and compare EE and EW of 10 higher education buildings and examine the correlation of the calculated EE and EW values. The results demonstrate that the total EE and electricity EE of the study buildings share a very strong positive correlation (r2 = 0.93-0.99) with the buildings’ total EW at the building level. This correlation, however, weakens at the material level. The share of EREW in the total EW ranges from 9-13%, which indicates that reducing just EE may not help decrease EW, and additional efforts may be needed to address EW and reduce fresh water use in building construction.

Time-to-care metrics in patients with interhospital transfer for mechanical thrombectomy in north-east Germany: Primary telestroke centers in rural areas vs. primary stroke centers in a metropolitan area.

Mechanical thrombectomy (MT) is highly effective in large vessel occlusion (LVO) stroke. In north-east Germany, many rural hospitals do not have continuous neurological expertise onsite and secondary transport to MT capable comprehensive stroke centers (CSC) is necessary. In metropolitan areas, small hospitals often have neurology departments, but cannot perform MT. Thus, interhospital transport to CSCs is also required. Here, we compare time-to-care metrics and outcomes in patients receiving MT after interhospital transfer from primary stroke centers (PCSs) to CSCs in rural vs. metropolitan areas. Patients from ten rural telestroke centers (RTCs) and nine CSCs participated in this study under the quality assurance registry for thrombectomies of the Acute Neurological care in North-east Germany with TeleMedicine (ANNOTeM) telestroke network. For the metropolitan area, we included patients admitted to 13 hospitals without thrombectomy capabilities (metropolitan primary stroke centers, MPSCs) and transferred to two CSCs. We compared groups regarding baseline variables, time-to-care metrics, clinical, and technical outcomes. Between October 2018 and June 2022, 50 patients were transferred from RTCs within the ANNOTeM network and 42 from MPSCs within the Berlin metropolitan area. RTC patients were older (77 vs. 72 yrs, p = 0.05) and had more severe strokes (NIHSS 17 vs. 10 pts., p < 0.01). In patients with intravenous thrombolysis (IVT; 34.0 and 40.5%, respectively), time from arrival at the primary stroke center to start of IVT was longer in RTCs (65 vs. 37 min, p < 0.01). However, RTC patients significantly quicker underwent groin puncture at CSCs (door-to-groin time: 42 vs. 60 min, p < 0.01). Despite longer transport distances from RTCs to CSCs (55 vs. 22 km, p < 0.001), there was no significant difference of times between arrival at the PSC and groin puncture (210 vs. 208 min, p = 0.96). In adjusted analyses, there was no significant difference in clinical and technical outcomes. Despite considerable differences in the setting of stroke treatment in rural and metropolitan areas, overall time-to-care metrics were similar. Targets of process improvement should be door-to-needle times in RTCs, transfer organization, and door-to-groin times in CSCs wherever such process times are above best-practice models.

A data-driven on-site injury severity assessment model for car-to-electric-bicycle collisions based on positional relationship and random forest

&lt;abstract&gt; &lt;p&gt;Vulnerable road users (VRUs) are usually more susceptible to fatal injuries. Accurate and rapid assessment of VRU injury severity at the accident scene can provide timely support for decision-making in emergency response. However, evaluating VRU injury severity at the accident scene usually requires medical knowledge and medical devices. Few studies have explored the possibility of using on-site positional relationship to assess injury severity, which could provide a new perspective for on-site transportation professionals to assess accident severity. This study proposes a data-driven on-site injury severity assessment model for car-to-electric-bicycle accidents based on the relationship between the final resting positions of the car, electric bicycle and cyclist at the accident scene. Random forest is employed to learn the accident features from the at-scene positional relationship among accident participants, by which injury severity of the cyclist is assessed. Conditional permutation importance, which can account for correlation among predictor variables, is adopted to reflect the importance of predictor variables more accurately. The proposed model is demonstrated using simulated car-to-electric-bicycle collision data. The results show that the proposed model has good performance in terms of overall accuracy and is balanced in recognizing both fatal and non-fatal accidents. Model performance under partial information confirms that the position information of the electric bicycle is more important than the position information of the cyclist in assessing injury severity.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/abstract&gt;

Load-Carrying Capacity of Bailey Bridge in Civil Applications

The paper presents an extensive study aimed to determine the applicability of the demountable Bailey bridge (BB) system on construction sites or in other temporary conditions while meeting the regulations for the design and assessment of steel bridges. The analysis is focused on whether and to what extent the BB system with spans between 12 and 36 m is usable for on-site freight transport with conventional lorries with a total weight of up to 22–28 tons. At the same time, the BB system within these spans should be utilized for construction vehicles with a total weight of up to 32–40 tons. To calculate the load-carrying capacity, spatial numerical models were analysed using FEM and procedures of actual design codes were utilized. In the case of the main girders, analysis is focused on the out-of-plane stability of their compressed chords. Recommendations for the use of this bridge system in different arrangements of the main girder and bridge deck are then summarized and discussed.

Experimental Investigation on Proppant Transport Behavior in Hydraulic Fractures of Tight Oil and Gas Reservoir

Proppant concentration and fracture surface morphology are two significant fractures that can affect proppant transport and deposition behavior especially in tight and oil and gas reservoirs. This paper proposed a new set of similarity criteria for proppant experimental design by incorporating proppant concentration and fracture roughness. Based on the proposed criterion, proppant transport experiments in hydraulic fractures of tight oil and gas reservoirs were conducted to explore the proppant placement behavior and identify the key parameters that affected the fracture propping efficiency. Results showed that the proposed similarity criterion can be used to evaluate the onsite proppant transport behavior and optimize hydraulic fracturing parameters. Results showed that the fracture placement efficiency of LD C7 tight oil reservoir is mainly affected by sand ratio and fracturing fluid viscosity. The sand ratio in the LD C7 tight oil reservoir should not be less than 8%, and the optimal carrying fluid viscosity is 5 mPa s. The proppant placement efficiency of the SLG H8 tight gas reservoir is mainly affected by the displacement rate and frac fluid viscosity. The displacement rate of SLG H8 tight gas reservoir should not be less than 3.5 m3/min, and the optimal carrying fluid viscosity is 15 mPa s.

Evaluation of the permissible 99Mo activity in the KL-15 cask in the design of transportation and process scheme

The demand for the use of radioactive isotopes in medicine is increasing with each coming year necessitating the increased output of radionuclide products. One of the most widely spread radionuclides used in medicine is technetium-99m (99mТс) (Feasibility of producing molybdenum-99 2015, NEA 2012, The Supply of Medical Radioisotopes 2015). The very short 99mТс life (6-hour half-life) requires its production directly on the site of medical treatment. This is achieved using molybdenum-technetium generators (Kodina and Krasikova 2014, Technical Reports No. NF-T-5.4. 2013, Technetium-99 Generator 2021) loaded with molybdenum-99 (99Мо), which uninterruptedly decays (half-life of 66 hours) yielding 99mTc. Close attention must be paid in the course of production of molybdenum-technetium generators to radiation safety during transportation of 99Мо on the territory of the manufacturing facility. The main measure for ensuring radiation safety during transportation of 99Мо is the application of special packaging kits. The Karpov Institute of Physical Chemistry JSC uses a wide range of packaging kits of types A and B for transportation of radioactive materials on the territory of the manufacturer with design features providing the required level of radiation safety. In particular, the KL-15 shipping cask loaded/unloaded from the top is used for onsite transportation of 99Мо for charging molybdenum-technetium generators. The maximum permissible activity of 99Мо is not specified in the passport of the KL-15 cask. Planned construction of a radionuclide production shop in accordance with GMP requirements will require the increase of output of target radionuclides by several times. The above considerations necessitated the evaluation of the maximum permissible activity of 99Мо planned to be transported in KL-15 casks. No other type of standard casks can be used because of their outside dimensions prohibiting the unloading of 99Мо inside the “hot” chamber. Calculation and experimental evaluation of permissible 99Мо activity during transportation inside the KL-15 cask was performed. The paper presents the calculated evaluation of the maximum permissible activity of 99Мо in a KL-15 cask to ensure the radiation exposure of personnel of group A working with the cask not exceeding the established level at the enterprise (80 μSv per shift) and not requiring the use of additional measures and means of protection. The results of the work allow us drawing the conclusion that the KL-15 cask ensures the required level of radiation safety with up to 241 Ki of 99Мо loaded in the cask.

Design and application of a cooling device based on the phase-change material for heat stroke

Heat stroke is a critical and health-threatening disease, triggered by thermal stimulus and progressing rapidly. It can give rise to multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS), resulting in a high mortality rate. Nearly 30% of survivors will suffer with different sequelae, for instance, the neurological sequelae. Currently, the early rapid cooling is the focus of therapy for heat stroke. Therefore, it is imperative to design a cooling module suitable for the treatment of heat stroke in the field and in the hospital to realize the goal of early rapid cooling and the effective targeted temperature management (TTM). The cooling device is composed of a cooling blanket and a cooling cap. The blanket and cap are made by temperature changeable fabric. The cooling blanket comprises a backing layer, a buffer layer, a flexible heat conduction capsule body, a temperature changing component, a fixed part and a temperature sensor. The cooling cap includes a main body and two side ears, in which the main body is worn on the top of the patient's head, and the front is equipped with a flexible display screen, which is convenient for real-time monitoring the temperature of the temperature change component of the cooling blanket. The lateral ear can wrap the patient's ears and neck, and the tympanic membrane thermometer is designed to monitor the tympanic membrane temperature in real time. The tympanic membrane thermometer is also designed at the ear to monitor the tympanic auditory canal temperatures in real time.Continuous dynamic temperature monitoring can guide the duration of cooling treatment and stop cooling in time. The cooling component is portable, easy to operate, real-time temperature monitoring, excellent cooling effect and reusable. It is used for on-site first aid, transportation and continuous cooling for patients with heat stroke in the ward.

Circular Economy of Construction and Demolition Waste: A Literature Review on Lessons, Challenges, and Benefits.

Conventionally, in a linear economy, C&D (Construction and Demolition) waste was considered as zero value materials, and, as a result of that, most C&D waste materials ended up in landfills. In recent years, with the increase in the awareness around sustainability and resource management, various countries have started to explore new models to minimize the use of limited resources which are currently overused, mismanaged, or quickly depleting. In this regard, the implementation of CE (Circular Economy) has emerged as a potential model to minimize the negative impact of C&D wastes on the environment. However, there are some challenges hindering a full transition to CE in the construction and demolition sectors. Therefore, this review paper aims to critically scrutinize different aspects of C&D waste and how CE can be integrated into construction projects. Reviewing of the literature revealed that the barriers in the implementation of CE in C&D waste sectors fall in five main domains, namely legal, technical, social, behavioral, and economic aspects. In this context, it was found that policy and governance, permits and specifications, technological limitation, quality and performance, knowledge and information, and, finally, the costs associated with the implementation of CE model at the early stage are the main barriers. In addition to these, from the contractors’ perspective, C&D waste dismantling, segregation, and on-site sorting, transportation, and local recovery processes are the main challenges at the start point for small-scale companies. To address the abovementioned challenges, and also to minimize the ambiguity of resulting outcomes by implementing CE in C&D waste sectors, there is an urgent need to introduce a global framework and a practicable pathway to allow companies to implement such models, regardless of their scale and location. Additionally, in this paper, recommendations on the direction for areas of future studies for a reduction in the environmental impacts have been provided. To structure an effective model approach, the future direction should be more focused on dismantling practices, hazardous material handling, quality control on waste acceptance, and material recovery processes, as well as a incentivization mechanism to promote ecological, economic, and social benefits of the CE for C&D sectors.

Construction Site Layout Planning Using a Simulation-Based Decision Support Tool

Background: A site layout plan is one of the important decisions to be made in the planning phase of each construction project as it can significantly impact on-site transportation, construction logistics, and safety. This decision could be complicated owing to the uncertainties inherent in construction projects and the complex relationships between the influencing factors and decision variables. Methods: To improve site layout planning, this study aims to develop a simulation-based decision support tool (DST) that enables planners to consider the following: (1) construction uncertainties, (2) construction resources (i.e., material, equipment, and workers), (3) site layout constraints, and (4) mutual impacts between site layout and construction plan variables, for site layout planning of construction projects. Results: The developed DST visualizes the site layout plan within a simulation environment and provides seamless interactions between the site layout model and the simulation model. These capabilities facilitate planning construction site layout using simulation by establishing two-way information flows between the site layout and simulation components, which can further promote application of simulation in construction site layout planning. Usefulness and practicality of the proposed DST is demonstrated in site layout planning of a steel erection project. Conclusions: Using this DST can reduce some common wastes in construction projects and the cost associated with them, including on-site transportation, material handling and storage, and waiting time for the material arrival.

Design and application of a split first aid suit for heat stroke

In the trend of global warming and the increasing number of participating in high-intensity sports, the incidence of heat stroke is increasing year by year. Heat stroke is categorized to the class of heat emergent diseases. If there is no quick and effective treatment, the mortality rate is as high as 50%. Early, rapid, and effective cooling is the key point in the treatment of heat stroke. The early recognition and rapid lowering the core body temperature to 38.9 centigrade within 30 minutes of exertional heat stroke results in better clinical outcome with the fewest complications, however, the "golden 30 minutes" is far from enough to complete emergency transport and evaluation. Therefore, it is urgent to develop a first aid suit for heat stroke suitable for field treatment and transportation, so as to achieve the treatment goal of early rapid and effective cooling in field environment. For this purpose, the medical staff of the department of critical care medicine of the Eighth Medical Center of the Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital designed and developed the split first aid suit, which is suitable for heat stroke patient in the harsh environment lacking medical supplies and water during transportation. The medical staff who designed the first aid suit obtained a National Utility Model Patent of China (ZL 2020 2 1627326.4). The split heat stroke first aid suit is composed of four main parts: a sleeveless coat, a hat, sleeves and wrapped pants. All of them are made by temperature changeable fabric which is a composite material made by fine porous silica gel particles and potassium nitrate. The cuffs of the sleeveless top of the clothes part and the sleeves are connected as a whole by the connecting pieces; and the front end of the hem of the clothes part and the wrapped trousers are also connected as a whole by the connecting pieces, which is convenient for fixing and transportation. In order to control the water injection quantity, the water injection bag and the corresponding components are designed to ensure the same amount of water can be injected to the heat stroke first aid suit at each time, so the same frigorific effect can be attainable. The service temperature is 14-18 centigrade, so it will not cause local frostbite to patients when used for a long time. This split-type first aid suit can be used in the movement, rescue and transportation of heat stroke patients. It is easy to carry and use with accurate cooling effect with low cost, moreover, it is reusable and can be widely used for on-site emergency and transportation of heat stroke patients.

Helicopter Transportation of Brazilian Trauma Patients: A Comparison of Times to Care

ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to analyze helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) transport with secondary land ambulance transfer, comparing landings performed inside and outside the hospital complex to the emergency department. MethodsThis was a cross-sectional observational study of HEMS transports of trauma patients between 2016 and 2018 in southern Brazil. Patients were attended by the HEMS team at the trauma site or stabilized in hospitals nearby and subsequently referred to trauma centers. In this region, no trauma centers have their own helipads so helicopters land in remote areas close to the hospital, which may be inside or outside the hospital complex. Both landings require ground emergency medical service transport, with off-site landings necessitating ground emergency medical service transport via public access roads to reach the hospital. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and on-site and off-site transport times were compared using a t-test for independent samples. ResultsOf 176 transports, 28.5% resulted in on-site landings, whereas 71.5% occurred off-site. The ground transport time when the landing zone was off-site was 5 minutes longer than on-site (P < .001). ConclusionOff-site landings result in longer transports to the emergency room. The construction of helipads in trauma centers can reduce transport time, in addition to reducing the costs and sequelae of trauma.

Improved and promising fecal sludge sanitizing methods: treatment of fecal sludge using resource recovery technologies

AbstractThe global challenges that face sustainable sanitation services in developing countries are the lack of fecal sludge (FS) management; this is due to the rapid urbanization and population growth as it generates enormous quantities of fecal sludge. The extensive use of unimproved sanitation technologies is one of the main reasons for environmental and public health concerns. In dispersed rural areas, isolated slums or in urban areas where a sewerage system is costly, a decentralized wastewater system can be used. Therefore centralized management of decentralized wastewater systems along with proper institutional framework treatment of fecal sludge can be used to enhance the economies of developing countries from resource recovery. The discovery of new ways to inactivate pathogens contained in human waste is key in improving access to sanitation worldwide and reducing the impact of conventional waste management processes on the environment. The entire FS management system should include on-site sanitary treatment methods, collection, and transportation of FS, treatment facilities as well as resource recovery or disposal of the treated end products. This review paper addresses the hygienization of fecal sludge and improved treatment technologies for safe reuse or disposal of the end products and the significant economic revenues attained from the treatments of fecal sludge.