@article{ref1,
title="Disaster medicine in Singapore: past, present, future",
journal="Singapore medical journal",
year="2024",
author="Quah, Li Juan Joy and Pek, Jen Heng and Cheng, Lenard and Lee, Chan Yu and Teng, David Kuan Peng and Yeo, Mathew Yi Wen and Anantharaman, Venkataraman",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="The World Health Organization (WHO) defines mass casualty incidents as &quot;disasters and major incidents which overwhelm local medical resources and compromise standard medical care.&quot;[1] This differs from a smaller-scale multiple casualty event, where resources are strained but still sufficient to provide standard medical care.[2] An effective medical response is important to minimise deaths and injuries in a mass casualty incident. The need for a special branch of medicine dedicated to disasters was first recognised in 1975.[3]  In Singapore, high-rise buildings are vulnerable to strong seismic events.[4] Flooding also occurs.[5,6] Man-made disasters are more common. In the 1950s, there were frequent riots.[7,8] Other disasters include plane crash, terrorist bombing, tanker explosion, building collapse and train collision.[8] Singapore has also experienced novel infectious disease events, including the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak and the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.[9,10,11] Singapore continues to be at risk for mass casualty incidents and disasters; hence, it is important for the healthcare community to have a basic understanding of disaster response and management.[12]  This article aimed to document the history of mass casualty events in Singapore, apprise the current state of healthcare response and suggest plans for future development. ...<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0037-5675",
doi="10.4103/singaporemedj.SMJ-2023-019",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/singaporemedj.SMJ-2023-019"
}