Medical referral of patients with acute respiratory failure: lessons learned from a large outbreak of botulism in northern Thailand
Pantukosit, S.
Journal of the Medical Association of Thailand 90(6): 1193-1198
2007
ISSN/ISBN: 0125-2208 PMID: 17624217 Document Number: 2882
Background: There was an outbreak of botulism in a district in Nan Province in upper northern Thailand The outbreak occurred after the villagers took bamboo shoots preserved in a sealed bucket under anaerobic conditions (home-canned bamboo shoots). There were 209 people at risk of whom 119 (56.9%) were hospitalized Among the 119 cases, 42 (35.3%) needed ventilators. Of the 42 cases, 25 (59.5%) were transferred to another hospital.Objective: Describe and review transferal processes of the 25 cases and document lessons learned for medical services response from a public health aspect.Material and Method: Review of records and reports.Results: All 25 cases were successfully transferred with no mishaps. The duration of transferal was less than 3 hours.Conclusion: Preparedness of local capacity to cope with botulism outbreak of this scale is important, However it is also necessary to develop a good system for medical referral of severe cases, to be started early in the course of medical care.
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