The study aimed to do large scale studies on disasters relating to the exposure of a portion of the population to a toxic agent, in order to learn how to better study the long-term medical effects.
The article was published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, a well regarded journal dedicated to publishing reliable studies concerning ecological damage and effects, as well as the medical effects due to ecological factors of both natural and human creation.
The study aimed to discover new or more effective methods of studying long term effects of exposure to toxic agents. It describes the new insights including the effectiveness of simple studies, ensuring control groups, and methods to do research by using ecological aspects or involving the community in places where medical researchers are not entirely trusted.
As the disasters studied occurred many years ago and have been thoroughly studied previously this study did not present sufficiently new information to be disseminated through news reports. The study did however provide information of interest for future studies, and has been cited in other articles indicating it was used as reference in determining the effectiveness of research techniques.
The data presented could be used for medical professionals to better understand the cause of similar symptoms, or to treat patients involved in a similar incidents. The methods of research presented could be used by academics and researchers in further study.
The study does not directly address vulnerable populations, but rather focuses on including all relevant populations involved in a disaster including those reluctant to take surveys or be interviewed, or communities that are not often studies or may have had little to no exposure in order to maintain the proper control group.
The study was funded with assistance from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the Center of Economic Excellence, located in South Carolina, through a program for the Doris Meddin Levkoff Center for Medication Safety.
This organization seeks to provide emergency medical services to community members of Bed-Stuy, an area seeing disproportionate levels of physical violence and trauma. Before BSVAC the average ambulatory response time to the city was approximately 30 minutes, gravely eating into the "Golden hour" trauma patients are allowed. In light of this, two EMS workers chose to start a volunteer EMS agency to provide emergency care to the city, expose community members to careers in EMS, and teach BLS skills to residents.
The founding members were Bed-Stuy residents Captain James "Rocky" Robinson and Specialist Joe Perez. Since then, membership has extended to other EMS personnel, the majority of whom are also Bed-Stuy residents. This is also the first multi-cultural ambulatory agency and seeks to provide meaningful careers to Bed-Stuy residents
The agency itself is an illustration of emergency response; before BSVAC ambulance response time averaged around thirty minutes-- a far cry from the standard eight minutes aimed for by ambulatory agencies around the Capital region. The original goal of BSVAC was to cut down these times, thereby increasing patient outcomes and creating a sense of safety in a community rippling with gang and drug violence. In addition to this initial goal, BSVAC also reaches out to the surrounding community, teaching CPR, first-aid, and BLS to Bed-Stuy residents. This aids in emergency response, as CPR and first-aid measures can be delivered quickly to a patient even before the ambulance arrives.