The Estimated Frequency of Spinal Cord Injury, Amputation (Hands and Feet) and Death in the Bam Earthquake Using the Network Scale Up Method

After an earthquake, casualty information is needed for planning and providing health care. However, developing countries do not have an efficient health information system even in normal conditions. In these countries, health information systems become worse in critical conditions. The aim of this study was to estimate the number of mortalities, limb amputations, and spinal cord injuries after the Bam earthquake. In this cross sectional study, the network scale up method was used to estimate the number of casualties. We selected 80 residents of Bam and asked them whether they knew any one with spinal cord injury or limb amputation in three houses on the right and three houses on the left. The total estimated number of deaths was 54,041 in the earthquake. The number of people with spinal cord injury and limb amputation was 622 and 519, respectively. For tertiary prevention measures and better resource allocation, an accurate health information system is needed. In the absence of such a system, there are limitations in using direct methods. It sounds that the network scale up method is an appropriate method for estimating such casualties.