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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indian J Radiol Imaging 2013; 23(01): 106-109
DOI: 10.4103/0971-3026.113629
ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Coping in a calamity: Radiology during the cloudburst at Leh

Debraj Sen
Department of Radiodiagnosis, Asst Prof. (Radiodiagnosis), Command Hospital (CC), Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
› Author Affiliations Source of Support: Nill.
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Abstract

The service hospital at Leh is a multispeciality hospital situated at an altitude of 11000 feet above mean sea level. On the nights of 4 and 5 Aug 2010, Leh was struck by a cloudburst leading to mudslides and consequently extensive damage to life and property. Being the only functional hospital, over a period of about 48 hours, 331 casualties were received. 549 casualties were received over the week with 108 admissions, 16 major surgeries and 138 minor surgeries. 178 radiographs, 17 CT scans and 09 ultrasound-colour Doppler examinations were performed on an urgent basis over 48 hours apart from the routine radiological investigations. Apart from chronicling the event, we hope that sharing the unique experience of the Radiology Department in dealing with the large influx of patients would provide an insight into the role of Radiology during the disaster and help in planning and developing management protocols during other calamities.

Keywords

Calamity - emergency radiology - focused abdominal sonography for trauma - triage


Publication History

Article published online:
04 October 2021

© 2013. Indian Radiological Association. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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