Rescue Process Research Articles

Identification of the critical hospitals in the urban post-disaster healthcare system based on the network modeling and multi-criteria decision-making

It is essential to perform disaster prevention and preparedness at the city level before a real disaster event happens. One strategy is to raise the resilience and disaster preparedness of existing key hospitals and enhance their medical treatment capability in disaster situations, thereby increasing the robustness and efficiency of the whole network. This paper aims to identify the critical hospitals in the post-disaster healthcare system. An innovative method is proposed in this paper. Firstly, a network model is constructed based on modeling assumptions and selected hospitals with rescue and treatment capabilities. Secondly, four network-based criteria and three hospital parameter criteria are selected as decision-making criteria. Then, the entropy weight method (EWM) is used to calculate the criteria weights, and the VIKOR method is utilized to evaluate hospital nodes, thus obtaining the final rank of hospital importance. At last, a case study of Beijing is conducted. As the results show, the BC has the largest weight, followed by HL, and the CC has the smallest weight, and the final ranking results integrated the advantages of each criterion in different aspects of ranking and avoided the disadvantages of each criterion. It suggests that the location of the hospital plays a more critical role in the rescue process than the hospital's level. Also, the method described in this paper can systematically examine the post-disaster healthcare system and identify the critical hospitals in the system in a more comprehensive and effective way. The method provides an effective analysis tool for decision-makers in areas of urban disaster preparedness, urban medical system planning, and disaster relief decision-making.

Application for Road Accident Rescue

Abstract: Road accidents rates are very high nowadays. Timely medical aid can help in saving lives. This system aims to alert the nearby medical center about the accident to provide immediate medical aid. Road accidents area significant cause of injuries and fatalities worldwide. The prompt response of emergency services plays a crucial role in minimizing the impact of these accidents. In this context, the development of mobile applications can greatly assist in improving the effectiveness and efficiency of accident rescue operations. This abstract introduces Rapid Rescue, an Android application designed to enhance the response to road accidents and facilitate the rescue process. Rapid Rescue provides a comprehensive set of features aimed at streamlining the communication and coordination among emergency responders and victim. The application leverages the power of mobile technology to provide real-time information and prompt assistance, ultimately contributing to faster response times and improved outcomes. The Android application in the mobile phone will send text messages to the nearest ambulance responder. Application also shares the exact location of the accident and it can save time.

A simulation-based optimization for deploying multiple kinds road rescue vehicles in urban road networks

In the rescue process of urban road traffic accidents, the decision-making support system is of great importance since it will affect the rescue response time, and the response time is used as an evaluation index of the system performance. A shorter response time can ensure that casualties are rescued timely and can help restore the road as soon as possible. This paper provides a decision tool for traffic accident rescue vehicles’ integrated deployment problem in urban areas. In order to better simulate the stochastic rescue requests, the time and space distribution of traffic, and the dynamic rescue process, a simulation optimization model is established. This model determines the optimal deployment plan for three kinds of road rescue vehicles, i.e., ambulances, wreckers, and sweepers, in several time intervals in one day. To find a better solution, we incorporate a particle swarm optimization (PSO) method into the simulation and optimization procedures. The proposed method is validated by a case study in Shanghai. Additionally, sensitivity analysis is included to study the effects of various parameters and to confirm effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed method. The numerical experiments indicate that simply increasing the number of road rescue resources does not always improve the efficiency of road rescue.

Florence flood and the rescue of the Florence State Archives: The role of accounting and accountability

This archival research aims to explore the role of accounting for natural disasters. It is focused on the 1966 Florence flood. Considering the role of Florence in the worldwide cultural context, our attention is focused on the cultural patrimony in the Florence State Archive and on the role that accounting and accountability had in its rescue. The work refers to Foucault's and Derrida's concept of the archive and draws on the notion of accounting as ‘naming and counting’ practices. The investigation highlights the pivotal role of accounting in the rescue process of archival documents. Using ‘naming and counting’ practices, the damaged documentation was identified and inventoried and the accountability activities offered researchers knowledge of historical documents not available for investigation. These accounting practices realised the exercise of the power of re-‘consignation’ permitting an invaluable cultural patrimony to be re-consigned to the community.

Measuring the impact of food rescue: A social return on investment analysis

Food rescue organisations in Aotearoa New Zealand help to reduce food waste and provide temporary relief to food insecurity. However, many of these organisations depend on donations and short-term philanthropic or government funding, which creates financial uncertainty and often requires them to demonstrate the impacts of their work with limited resourcing. While frameworks exist to demonstrate social value and associated monetary proxies like social return on investment (SROI), they are often resource-intensive and challenging to apply to multiple actors with different operating models like food rescue groups. This paper presents a SROI approach to measure the social value of three different food rescue models (Community Hub, Free Store, and Mixed model) in Aotearoa New Zealand. We describe how we adapted the seven guiding principles of SROI to explore how food rescue creates value for different actors in the food rescue process, including food donors, food recipient organisations, food rescue volunteers, and food rescue recipients. We used stakeholder interviews and quantitative data to develop nine primary outcomes. Financial proxy values were assigned to these outcomes, calculating an SROI ratio of NZD 4.5:1, indicating that an investment of $1 in food rescue delivers $4.5 of social value. This study adds to the growing literature on the impact of food rescue organisations and highlights the importance of taking a multi-case study approach to capture the true value created by this sector. Additionally, it emphasises the crucial role of food rescue organisations as ‘community connectors’ and their transformative potential in addressing food security issues.

The Use of Decision Support in Search and Rescue: A Systematic Literature Review

Whenever natural and human-made disasters strike, the proper response of the concerned authorities often relies on search and rescue services. Search and rescue services are complex multidisciplinary processes that involve several degrees of interdependent assignments. To handle such complexity, decision support systems are used for decision-making and execution of plans within search and rescue operations. Advances in data management solutions and artificial intelligence technologies have provided better opportunities to make more efficient and effective decisions that can lead to improved search and rescue operations. This paper provides findings from a bibliometric mapping and a systematic literature review performed to: (1) identify existing search and rescue processes that use decision support systems, data management solutions, and artificial intelligence technologies; (2) do a comprehensive analysis of existing solutions in terms of their research contributions to the investigated domain; and (3) investigate the potential for knowledge transfer between application areas. The main findings of this review are that non-conventional data management solutions are commonly used in land rescue operations and that geographical information systems have been integrated with various machine learning approaches for land rescue. However, there is a gap in the existing research on search and rescue decision support at sea, which can motivate future studies within this specific application area.

Method and application of information sharing throughout the emergency rescue process based on 5G and AR wearable devices

The 2022 Winter Olympics were held in the three competition zones of Beijing, Yanqing and Zhangjiakou, China. The venues of this Winter Olympics were scattered and the terrain was complex. Moreover, the medical resources of Hebei and Beijing were relatively unbalanced. In the medical security of major events, the connection between first aid and in-hospital processes is of the utmost importance to rescue quality. 5th generation mobile network (5G) applications in medical scenarios are on the rise. It would be of great relevance to fully use 5G’s low-latency and high-speed features to share the process information of patients, ambulance personnel, and the destination hospital’s rescue team at emergency scenes and in transportation, improving rescue efficiency. This paper proposes a system scheme of cross-institutional emergency health information sharing based on 5G and augmented reality wearable devices. It also integrates the construction method of monitoring and other sign data sharing, in addition to testing the proposed scheme’s service quality in 5G environments. In the deployment area of the 5G emergency medical rescue information sharing scheme for the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, we selected two designated medical support institutions for testing. The test adopted a combination of fixed-point and driving tests to experiment on the service data, voice service, and streaming media indicators. The 5G signal's coverage rate was close to 100%, the standalone connection's success rate was 100%, and the drop rate was 0. The average downlink rate of multiple scenarios was 620mbps, and the average uplink rate of 5G was over 71.8mbps, which is higher than the average 5G level in China. The downlink rate was more than 20 times larger than the 4th generation mobile network (4G) rate. This study’s proposed scheme demonstrates the importance of 5G applications in emergency response and support, in addition to providing a suitable scheme for the integration of 5G networks in the medical scene.

The impact of special exercises (land-water) in developing the functional capabilities and performance of shipwrecked rescuers

The aim of the research is to design specific exercises (land-water) by supporting the development of functional skills and performance of shipwreck rescuers. This was observed through the researcher's work as well as by monitoring drowning incidents using Iraqi Ministry of Health statistics and Babylon Governorate statistics, particularly the high incidence of drowning. Their reasons included the low functional competence of rescuers' body systems and that the rescue operation could require a high level of physical and functional exertion. Likewise, the lack of specific exercises for lifeguards and the lack of use of training aids (legs, pull ropes) in the daily training sessions for lifeguards. Which requires training according to the development in the use of these training methods, which are practiced in the countries of the world in the field of training. As a result, this negatively impacted lifeguard performance and was an element that led to an increase in drowning incidents and then a departure from the goals for which this assistance was set. And explore the impact of using these tools. The researcher designed special ground-water exercises with auxiliary means and conducted daily training units, and they were divided into two groups. The first is experimental and the second controls, and the experimental group has implemented the proposed method prepared by the researcher. And the control group implemented the traditional training curriculum prepared by the official. The researcher conducted the necessary tests before and after the training period, which lasted (8) weeks, with three training units per week. The results were analyzed using the necessary statistical operations, and the researcher concluded that both groups had remarkable development. However, the experimental group was the best in the results, and in light of this, the researcher recommends the need to prepare special exercises (land - water) with special aids for the rescue process to develop the functional capabilities of the body systems and develop the performance of shipwrecked rescuers.

Vibration Analysis of Rescue Basket in High-Rise Building Rescue Process Using a Personal Winch

Vibration Analysis of Rescue Basket in High-Rise Building Rescue Process Using a Personal Winch

Wounded Triage, Transport and Coordination of Emergency Operation in Urban Emergencies

For the wounded triage, transport and cooperative scheduling problem of emergency surgery in urban emergency rescue, this study uses the idea of supply chain collaborative scheduling, considers factors such as the number of the wounded, rescue vehicle capacity and hospital operation time to achieve the optimization goals of the shortest rescue response time and the most economical transportation capacity, establishes a mixed integer programming model, and designs a two-stage scheduling algorithm to solve the model. It uses the relative gap between the maximum time span of the entire rescue process and the optimal performance under ideal conditions to measure the performance of the algorithm. The simulation experiments show that the two-stage scheduling algorithm has better problem-solving ability for scenarios with larger number of the wounded and stronger carrying capacity, and has better performance than MFF algorithm and MBF algorithm.

Integrated the Medical Procedure Analyze Seismic Resilience of Healthcare System: A Critical Review from the Resilience of Healthcare System vs. Medical Demand Perspective

The healthcare system is the bearer of treating the wounded and the victims of earthquakes. The functional integrity of the healthcare system is critical to the process of postearthquake medical rescue. Thus, the requirements for seismic resilience of the medical functions of the healthcare systems are increasing. Many studies have applied resilience research to address critical issues in the medical rescue of postearthquake casualties, such as medical diagnosis, emergency surgery, and intensive care. However, systematic construction is still lacking. System resilience is one of the most promising systemic management theories with great potential to address the abovementioned challenges. This article puts forward a scientific concept that system resilience can improve the efficiency of earthquake relief in medical rescue. Firstly, a scientific review of medical demand and medical resilience was conducted, summarizing resilience and resilience of healthcare system concepts. In addition, the postearthquake medical demand was reviewed, and the classification and distribution probability of postearthquake injuries were summarized. Furthermore, by reviewing the postearthquake medical rescue process, the weak points of each medical link were summarized. Combined with the key points in the medical rescue process, the application of resilience studies in the medical system is reviewed, and the progress of medical resilience is illustrated. In summary, combined with medical demand, the article provides some guidance for the deep integration between medical rescue processes and medical resilience and identifies the challenges of system resilience to reduce the waiting time of the injured future medical rescue in the earthquake.

Cyanidin-3-O-Glucoside Rescues Zearalenone-Induced Apoptosis via the ITGA7-PI3K-AKT Signaling Pathway in Porcine Ovarian Granulosa Cells

Zearalenone (ZEN) is an important secondary metabolite of Fusarium fungi, exposure to which can cause reproductive disorders through its effects on ovarian granulosa cells (GCs) in many mammals, especially in pigs. This study aimed to investigate the protective effects of Cyanidin-3-O-glucoside (C3G) on the ZEN-induced negative effects in porcine GCs (pGCs). The pGCs were treated with 30 µM ZEN and/or 20 µM C3G for 24 h; they were divided into a control (Ctrl) group, ZEN group, ZEN+C3G (Z+C) group, and a C3G group. Bioinformatics analysis was used to systematically screen differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the rescue process. Results showed that C3G could effectively rescue ZEN-induced apoptosis in pGCs, and notably increase cell viability and proliferation. Furthermore, 116 DEGs were identified, and the phosphatidylinositide 3-kinases-protein kinase B (PI3K-AKT) signaling pathway was the center of attention, of which five genes and the PI3K-AKT signaling pathway were confirmed by real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) and/or Western blot (WB). As analyzed, ZEN inhibited mRNA and protein levels of integrin subunit alpha-7 (ITGA7), and promoted the expression of cell cycle inhibition kinase cyclin-D3 (CCND3) and cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 1 (CDKN1A). After the knock-down of ITGA7 by siRNA, the PI3K-AKT signaling pathway was significantly inhibited. Meanwhile, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) expression decreased, and apoptosis rates and pro-apoptotic proteins increased. In conclusion, our study demonstrated that C3G exhibited significant protective effects on the ZEN-induced inhibition of proliferation and apoptosis via the ITGA7-PI3K-AKT pathway.

A Time-Domain Planning Method for Surface Rescue Process of Amphibious Aircraft for Medium/Distant Maritime Rescue

Medium/distant maritime rescue is significantly important in the development of maritime business. For typical medium/distant maritime rescue, the range limitation of helicopters and many difficulties between helicopter and ship cooperation lead to unsatisfactory rescue results. Compared to helicopters and ships, amphibious aircrafts could effectively solve the problems faced by helicopters and ships and meet the medium/distant maritime rescue demands with their long cruise range, high speed, high rescue capability and surface landing capability. Therefore, a time-domain planning method (TPM) based on the k-means* clustering algorithm and the genetic algorithm* is proposed in this study for the surface rescue process (SRP) of amphibious aircrafts in medium/distant maritime rescue. To simulate the SRP of amphibious aircrafts, an agent-based simulation environment of medium/distant maritime rescue was constructed based on the Python platform. Finally, a case study was carried out to verify its effectiveness and applicability. The results show that the TPM exhibits satisfactory rescue results for the SRP of the amphibious aircraft and that less than 1 h of delay time is recommended for the amphibious aircraft to rescue the persons in distress by using TPM.

Characterization of early myocardial inflammation in ischemia-reperfusion injury.

Myocardial injury may be caused by myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (IR), and salvaging such an injury is still a great challenge in clinical practice. This study comprehensively characterized the physiopathologic changes of myocardial injury after IR to explore the underlying mechanism in the early reperfusion phase with particular emphasis on early myocardial inflammation. The experimental IR model was obtained by the left anterior descending artery's transient ligation of C57BL/6 mice. T2W signals of all mice showed increased signal at different IR stages. It was positively correlated with inflammatory cytokines and cells. T2W imaging by 7.0 T MRI surprisingly detected signal enhancement, but histopathology and flow cytometry did not reveal any inflammatory cells infiltration within 3 h after IR. Cardiomyocyte swelling and increased vascular permeability were observed by WGA staining and ultrastructural analysis, respectively. The 3 h IR group showed that the cardiomyocytes were severely affected with disintegrating myofilaments and mitochondria. Both VEGF and phosphorylated Src protein were markedly expressed in the 3 h IR group in comparison with the sham group, and TUNEL staining displayed little positive cells. Cleaved caspase-3 apoptin also has similar expression levels with that of the sham group. Resident macrophages had notably become M1 phenotype. The T2W signal was still elevated, and we observed that collagen deposition occurred from 1 to 7 days. The inflammation response during the first week after reperfusion injury gradually increase 3 h later, but the main manifestation before that was edema. This study indicated that the first 3 h may be crucial to the early rescue process for reperfusion-induced myocardial injury due to inflammatory cell infiltration absence and apoptosis.

Research on Integrated Scheduling of Multi-Mode Emergency Rescue for Flooding in Chemical Parks

As the scale of the chemical park industry continues to expand, the impact of flooding on the park’s people and surrounding environment increases. This paper uses project scheduling theory to optimize the emergency rescue process in order to alleviate the suffering of affected people, promote the sustainable development of society and the environment, and take into account the characteristics of the dynamic evolution of flooding in chemical parks and the periodic renewal of emergency resources. We constructed a proactive–reactive multi-mode emergency rescue integrated scheduling model that aims to minimize the loss of affected people in the early stage of flooding and minimize the sum of the total deviation of the start time and end time of activities before and after reactive scheduling in the later stages of flooding. Furthermore, an ant colony algorithm was designed to solve the constructed model. Next, the effectiveness of the proposed model and solution algorithm was verified using simulations of actual cases. The calculation results show that using proactive–reactive integrated scheduling can improve the efficiency of emergency rescue and reduce the loss of affected people. Moreover, if a multi-mode rescue strategy is adopted, emergency rescue scheduling under four different resource combinations can reduce rescue duration and loss of affected people. The model can provide a decision reference for sustainable emergency rescue scheduling in chemical parks during a flood.

Simulation Study of Aviation Emergency Rescue Process Based on Application Scenario Features

In the process of emergency relief material dispatching, most of the traditional algorithms for dispatching are for single rescue point and single material dispatching, which cannot solve the problem of multirescue emergency relief dispatching. The various supply and demand points for emergency relief materials and the multiple emergency relief material dispatching are utilized to create the multiobjective planning model, which is then used as the optimization objective to create the best material dispatching plan. Genetic algorithm (GA) is used to solve the optimal material dispatching scheme and symbolic coding; special pulse crossover operator and variational operator are used to ensure the quality of the solution. The experiment proves that the simulation method of the aviation emergency rescue process considering the application scenario characteristics is efficient in the emergency rescue process and can meet the application requirements of material dispatching in the process of civil emergency disaster relief.

A comparative assessment of the treatment of unincorporated business entities in financial distress in South Africa

The main objective of this paper is to examine how business rescue schemes in South Africa facilitate the rescue of sole proprietorships and partnerships (unincorporated business entities) in financial distress. It is premised on the view that when a business is in financial distress, the lawmaker should provide some form of business rescue scheme accessible to all debtors regardless of their legal status, size, or commercial activities. The business rescue process has arguably received the most scholarly attention in recent times, yet, little or no attention is paid to the fate of financially distressed unincorporated entities in South Africa. The article sheds light on the role and significance of small and medium enterprises in promoting economic growth and the need to promulgate a debtor-friendly rescue regime. Through a comparative assessment, different business rescue schemes available to unincorporated business entities in South Africa, the United States of America and the United Kingdom are explored. It is observed that sole proprietorships and partnerships, which account for most unincorporated business entities in South Africa, are not eligible for business rescue or debt relief under the existing legislation. The rationale behind excluding unincorporated business entities from business rescue legislation seems to be that they lack legal personality. However, in other jurisdictions, the legislature has promulgated special business rescue procedures customised to match the unique personality of unincorporated business entities. Therefore, the South African legislature should consider promulgating a business rescue model for unincorporated business entities separate from the current Chapter 6 business rescue. Chapter 13 of the USA Bankruptcy Code provides an ideal rescue scheme for sole proprietors, while the UK insolvent partnership administration provides lessons on how to modify a business rescue scheme applicable to companies to accommodate partnerships in financial distress. The article contributes to the development of business rescue legislation that is targeted at relieving small businesses in financial distress.

Data rescue process in the context of sea level reconstructions: An overview of the methodology, lessons learned, up‐to‐date best practices and recommendations

AbstractCoastal water level measurements represent one of the earliest geophysical measurements and allow an assessment of historical sea level rise and trends in tides, river flow and storm surge. However, recovery and digitization of archival tidal records have been much less widespread and systematic than, for example meteorological records. In this contribution, we discuss data rescue efforts and lessons learned in France, the United States and the United Kingdom, countries with early and extensive tide gauge networks by the mid‐19th century. We highlight the importance of (a) cataloguing the historical gauge records, as a first step towards locating them; (b) locating data in archives, and then recovering and saving data by any means necessary, including photographs and scanning; (c) obtaining metadata, including both quantitative survey records, gauge checks and clock data, but also qualitative records such as gauge notes, letters and reports; and (d) quantitative statistical analysis of data and datum quality, using both standard data‐entry checks but also tools that leverage the unique predictability of tide measurements. Methods for digitizing original analogue records are also discussed, including semi‐automatic, computer‐based methods of digitizing tidal charts (marigrams). Although the current best practice is described, future improvements are desirable and needed to make the more than estimated 10,000 station years of unused, undigitized records available to the scientific community.

Business Rescue Legislation: Rehabilitating or Debilitating Business Rescue Success During Covid-19

In South Africa (SA), business rescue was introduced in 2011 to assist financially distressed companies. However, the COVID-19 pandemic triggered an avalanche of economic uncertainties, and in 2020, SA became the fifth highest country affected by COVID-19 infections, resulting in a total shutdown of all businesses, except for essential services. The combined effect of lockdown levels and collapses in supply chains resulted in a 42% increase in companies filing for business rescue between April and October 2020. This study diagnosed the shortcomings of the current business rescue legislation, in the context of a pandemic, which could have affected the financial rehabilitation of those companies applying for business rescue. The discussion is grounded on existing business rescue literature. This study comprised of a critical review of existing literature, as a methodology to conduct the study. The study identified several shortcomings such as inadequate time frames for the business rescue process, insufficient definition of reasonable prospect and a lack of procedures for a company filing for business rescue in a pandemic that could have impacted distressed companies and compromised prospects of resuscitation. The study recommends that amendments be made to current legislation as a panacea for distressed companies due to COVID-19.

해양 수색구조 정보전달체계 개선 방안

From after the sinking of the Sewol ferry in 2014, ship accidents such as the sinking of small fishing boats have continued, leading to casualties. If the information delivery system is strengthened during the maritime search and rescue process after a ship accident, the loss of life will be reduced. The first way to strengthen maritime search and rescue information delivery systems is to use drones. When using drones, the search video can be shared in real time, and command-and-rescue operations can be effective. The second is the placement of VHF radio facilities. When the VHF radio station is installed in the general situation room in the Regional Headquarters of Korea Coast Guard, direct communication with the ship will be possible if necessary. Finally, it is suggested that the control of coastal passenger ships be expanded during the entire voyage from departure to arrival. Currently, however, passenger ships are controlled only within the vessel traffic service control area. If this information delivery system is improved, large-scale human casualties can be prevented.