12. Disaster stages

6. Average severity of the injuries sustained:

disaster severity scale (DSS) with examples [44].

Boer and van Remmen (2003).

7. Medical rescue time: rescue, primary treatment, and transportation.

From the above mentioned factors, we can see that the severity index of disasters can lead to a score which make the basis upon which disasters can be compared with confidence and can be used for further study of disasters. Figure 1 shows the relation of severity index (S) and

Figure 1. Disaster severity scale (DSS) versus severity index (S) for man-made and natural disasters. Adapted from de

Time Severity Less than 6 h 0 6–24 h 1 More than 24 h 2

No. of severe cases Severity T1 + T2<< T3 0 T1 + T2 nearly equal T3 1 T1 + T2>> T3 2

Average (S) = T1 + T2/T3.

102 Essentials of Accident and Emergency Medicine

The time frame for a disaster is a principal factor in innovating methods for management of the disaster. Quarantelli in 1980 divided the time factor into three phases [45, 46]:

