Disaster-Related Wound Care: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Aim: To better understand the research status and demand of society on disaster-related wound care.

Design: Scoping review.

Methods: A systematic search and screening was conducted in PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, WHO Guidelines, Cochrane Library, ISI Web of Science, MEDLINE and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) Database, and 31 articles were selected from 244 articles for critique and synthesis.

Results: Existing disaster-related wound care research lacks a systematic review. In numerous nations, the technology and administration of disaster-related wound care for Emergency Medical Teams (EMT) are still nascent, the responsibilities are ambiguous, and there is a shortage of wound professionals. Current critical issues include the following: (1) inadequate strategies for enhanced orderly management of disaster-related wounds, particularly in an emergency setting and (2) lack of associations and organisations responsible for promoting research and development of catastrophe-related wound care proliferation strategies in disaster wound care.

Conclusion: There is still a lack of understanding regarding effective organisation and scientific implementation of disaster-related wound care. More research should be carried out, focusing on the formulation of guidelines and continuous training, so as to promote the standardisation of disaster-related wound care in the future.

Keywords: disaster nursing; disaster relief/rescue; disaster‐related wound care; emergency care; emergency medical team; wound care.