Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response in Poland: Prevention, Surveillance, and Mitigation Planning.

OBJECTIVES: Biological weapons are one of the oldest weapons of mass destruction used by man. Their use has not only determined the outcome of battles, but also influenced the fate of entire civilizations. Although the use of biological weapons agents in a terrorist attack is currently unlikely, all services responsible for the surveillance and removal of epidemiological threats must have clear guidelines and emergency response plans. METHODS: In the face of the numerous threats appearing in the world, it has become necessary to put the main emphasis on modernizing, securing, and maintaining structures in the field of medicine which are prepared for unforeseen crises and situations related to the use of biological agents. RESULTS: This article presents Poland's current preparation to take action in the event of a bioterrorist threat. The study presents both the military aspect and procedures for dealing with contamination. CONCLUSIONS: In Poland, as in other European Union countries fighting terrorism, preparations should be made to defend against biological attacks, improve the flow of information on the European security system, strengthen research centers, train staff, create observation units and vaccination centers, as well as prepare hospitals for the hospitalization of patients-potential victims of bioterrorist attacks.

Evacuation from Healthcare Facilities in Poland: Legal Preparedness and Preparation.

Medical facilities, while providing both essential and demanding health care to society's most vulnerable populations, also belong to the most demanding category of risk to human life if and when a crisis event occurs within its walls. The development of a safe evacuation plan for these facilities is extremely complicated, as the evacuation of medical facilities is much more complex than for other critical infrastructure. In this category, the evacuated patients constitute a specific risk group requiring specialized medical care. Hospitalized persons may be dependent on life-saving measures, are unconscious or immobile, are significantly restricted in movement or mentally unbalanced, being dependent on the continued assistance of trained third parties. Additionally, the medical transport of evacuated patients becomes more difficult due to the limited capacity of ambulances and available health care facilities to transport them to, which are increasingly limited due to their overcrowded census. The study aimed to analyze the requirements which are placed on hospitals in Poland to ensure the safety of patients in case of an evacuation. The research method used in the paper was retrospective analysis and evaluation of the media and literature. We have found, that Polish law imposes an obligation on the administrator of a medical facility to ensure the safety of both patients and employees. The regulations cover issues of technical conditions to be met by buildings and their location, prevention, and fire protection requirements, and the determination of which staff is responsible for the evacuation. However, available documents fail to describe what the hospital evacuation process itself should entail under emergency evacuation. Taking into account the complexity of the hospital evacuation process, health care facilities should have a well-developed plan of action that must be implemented at least once a year in the form of facility-wide training. Evacuation drills should not be avoided. Only trained procedures offer the possibility of later analysis to identify and eliminate errors and provide the opportunity to acquire skill sets and habits which promote the behaviors expected in real-life emergencies.

Alcohol Intoxication and Suicide by Hanging in Poland.

AIMS: An integral part of the World Health Organization (WHO) plan to reduce suicide by 10% by 2020 is to identify areas and demographic groups, which should be priority target groups for preventive activities. This study aimed to present the demographic differences between victims of suicide by hanging in the Warsaw metropolitan area, in Poland, by examining the sobriety of victims. METHODS: Data for analysis were obtained from the documentation of the Department of Forensic Medicine (DFM) at the Medical University of Warsaw (MUW). The retrospective analysis included 358 out of 466 victims of suicides by hanging in the Warsaw metropolitan area, in Poland, recorded in the DFM documentation covering 2011-2013. The data gathered included age, gender, the cause of death, a post-mortem examination as well as the level of ethanol in the blood and muscles of victims. RESULTS: In both groups, men accounted for a larger percentage of victims than women, P = 0.068. In the no-alcohol group, the victims were older than in the alcohol group (47.52 ± 19.21 vs. 40.88 ± 12.77) (P < 0.001). The majority of the studied population were victims aged 25-34 (22.90%), mainly men (20.95%). Young men were also the largest group among victims in the alcohol group (28.33%). The most numerous age group among no-alcohol group were older victims aged 55-64 (19.10%), especially men (16.29%). CONCLUSION: Regardless of sobriety, men were the largest group of suicide victims in the study population, which means that men die suicide more often than women. Differences in gender proportions are related to age. In the studied population, it was primarily young victims, mainly men. These are the groups that should be priority target groups for preventive activities aimed at reducing the number of suicides. The presence of ethanol in more than half of the victims of suicide in the study population indicates that alcohol is an important suicidal risk factor.

[First aid education - a questionnaire survey].

OBJECTIVE: Introduction: The ability to provide first aid, especially cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in accordance with the guidelines of the European Resuscitation Council (ERC) is a key element in helping and rescuing people with pre-hospital cardiac arrest. As recommended by the ERC 2015 guidelines, one of the most important steps to be taken to increase the rate of CPR appraisal by participants or cardiac arrest witnesses is to teach these skills to all children in schools. Numerous studies have shown that school-age children are positive about learning resuscitation, and moreover, they are important multipliers of knowledge because they are happy to transmit the information they receive to family members and the closest surroundings. The aim: To get to know the opinions of young people about the need for first aid education and the period in which it is best to start learning in this area. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Materials and methods: The study was attended by 498 people, students of various types of universities, the research method was an online diagnostic survey, a self-help questionnaire tool. RESULTS: Results: The study involved 309 women (62%) and 189 (38%) men. The respondents are young people between 18-30. Almost all respondents (97.2%) are of the opinion that learning first aid should be compulsory in the course of school education. The majority of respondents (76.7%) expressed the opinion that the knowledge regarding first aid should be updated, 16.3% had no opinion on this subject, while only 7.0% of respondents believed that there was no need to do so. Almost half of respondents (48.3%) are of the opinion that learning first aid should take place from the elementary school, while 30.3% of respondents think that they should be educated at pre-school age. CONCLUSION: Conclusions: The vast majority of respondents consider first aid education to be significant and needed during education. Young people are aware of the need to practice skills and to repeat and update information on first aid. The majority of respondents are of the opinion that education in this area should be started very early, even in the pre-school period.