“救援救援者”,如何不再现?——玉树地震对高原医学的一个特殊挑战

“Rescue the rescuers”, how may it be prevented?——A special challenge in high altitude medicine during the Yushu Earthquake

2010年4月14日发生在玉树的里氏7.1级地震是世界最高海拔居民区的大地震。地震发生后,在24 h内有10万余名救援人员急速进入了平均海拔4 000 m灾区,随后立即投入紧张的救援行动,结果出现了很高的急性高原病发病率及个别死亡,形成了"救援救援者"的局面。青藏高原是地震频发区,如何防止这种情况的再发生,我们通过对高原震区及灾后重建的深入研究分析,提出了一系列有效防护措施。

On April 14, 2010, an earthquake reaching 7.1 on the Richer scale struck Yushu areas of Qinghai which was largely populated by Tibetans. It was one of the highest-altitude earthquakes in the world. Promptly, within 24 h over 100 000 rescuers who were lowlanders were rapidly transported by air from the lowlands to Yushu at an average altitude of 4 000 m, and immediately aider their arrival they worked very hardly with a heavy physical exertion. A high incidence of acute altitude illnesses occurred in the unacclimatized rescuers. To ＂rescue the rescuers＂ became the main task for us, and also seriously influenced the mountain rescue operation. Qinghai-Tibet is an area where earthquakes have been active during recent decades, therefore, a larger question is how to prevent acute altitude illness in the high mountainous areas among the rescuers. Our recent studies suggest it may be prevented by a series of effective measures.