Learning from history...Learning from history...

Catania earthquake 1693:

The governor of Sicily wrote :

“It is impossible to pass information to your Majesty the King because there is not enough time to have it on time, as the regular post service has ceased and the extraordinary one cannot move as a consequence of road obstructions due to collapsed bridges, and also as a consequence of flooding rivers and the large quantity of snow that has fallen those days....”

Nevertheless in a very short time 3 commissioners were appointed to be sent in the most hit towns;

A civil assembly has been formed to reconstruct the city of Catania;

A church assembly was created to restore and reconstruct religious monuments and churches.

The Duke of Camastra was appointed as supervisor to control the use of money and the entire reconstruction process; earthquakes victims were exempted from taxes....

Getting to more recent times (XIX century), in the industrial revolution city new tools were created to face new problems the industrialization has created, hygienic problems, pollution and also… technological threats.

The concept of “accident” becomes relevant in the XIX century, claiming lives in industries of mining and railways, but also as fundamental core of the business of insurance companies

Williamo Farr around the middle of the XIX century wrote:

“scientific progress …has created new forces, often deadly, that were unkown to our ancestrors”

In 1881 it was noticed that “progress brings along responsibilities”, referring to the need of getting means to face emergencies

Ambulances and the movement that arose in Europe and the USA finds its roots in the military sphere (Civil war, 1848 wars, war between France and Germany...)

-“first-aid” provided by non medical personnel in the battle fields;

-“first dressing” linked to the recenlty discovered bacteria and to sterile gauzes

-ambulance: set of men, means, medical and surgical instruments, camping functions (in 1870 it was considered a “military” term)

-Many doctors who wanted to introduce the ambulance system in the civil life were from military origin and one motivation to support this new function was to consider its vital use in case of war;

-Insurance companies had a very clear interest: reduce reimbursements

Some handbook titles:

-”Railway accidents: their principal causes and remedies, 1873;

-Insurance Cyclopaedia, 1871-1880

-Aid to the injured, 1878

-First aid to the injured, 1881

-Treatise on the transport of sick and wounded troops, 1869

In 1846 a rule of the Common Law establishing the “deodand”, that is the taking of an object that had harmed somebody, was cancelled. The reason? It was considere obsolete

Railways risks overdeemed?

500 deaths/year due to railways accidents;

The double as a consequence of horse accidents or cars carried by horses;

Six times more those sinking....

Vienna, the European city better equipped and organised for first aid could count on three units:

-300 voluntary firemen associated to professional firemen;

-Section with 300 members specialized in case of flood, equipped with two rescue boats, a camp kitchen and various train carriers

-200 doctors and 200 medical school students to guarantee first medical treatment

Critical aspects:

-Discussion regarding whether medical aid should be based on “medical posts” disseminated in the city or on hospitals, as it was in teh USA;

-Discussion on whether the system should be private or public;

-In any of those cases there existed an operational centre linked to the police or to medical posts to treat injuries