Preparation of medical personnel for an early response humanitarian mission – lessons learned from the Israeli defense forces field hospital in the Philippines (original) (raw)
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2016
During the past 6 years the Israel Defense Forces Medical Corps (IDF-MC) deployed three humanitarian delegation field hospitals (HDFHs) in disaster zones around the globe: Haiti (2010), the Philippines (2013), and Nepal (2015). To compare the activity of these HDFHs and the characteristics of the patients they served. This retrospective study was based on the HDFHs' operation logs and patients medical records. The study population included both the staff who participated and the patients who were treated in any of the three HDFHs. The Philippine HDFH was a "hybrid" type, i.e., it was integrated with a local hospital. Both the Haitian and the Nepali HDFHs were the "stand-alone" type, i.e., were completely autonomic in resources and in function. The Nepali HDFH had a larger staff, departed from Israel 4 hours earlier and was active 7 hours earlier as compared to the Haitian one. In total, 5465 patients, 55% of them female, were treated in the three HDFHs. In Ha...
The Canadian Armed Forces medical response to Typhoon Haiyan
Canadian Journal of Surgery, 2015
Background: In the setting of international disaster response, an important challenge is determining when it is appropriate to withdraw deployed assets as the acute disaster response transitions to recovery and rebuilding. We describe our experience with realtime data collection during our medical response to Typhoon Haiyan as a means to guide military aid mission parameters. Methods: The operational medical headquarters prospectively developed a database for use in this mission. Mobile medical teams (MMTs) were deployed to provide primary care, and the nurse designated to each MMT was responsible for entering and transmitting data daily to the medical headquarters. Data collected included the MMT location, basic patient demographics, the primary reason for the encounter and any treatment provided. These encounters were then classified as disaster, acute or chronic. Results: Between Nov. 16 and Dec. 16, 2013, medical care was provided to 6596 local nationals; 238 (3.6%) had disaster-related illness or injury, 4321 (65.5%) had acute postdisaster medical conditions and 2037 (30.9%) sought medical care for chronic conditions. Of the 257 patients with traumatic injuries, 28 (11%) had disaster-related injuries and 214 (83%) had acute injuries that occurred postdisaster. Conclusion: The data collected during the mission to the Philippines was compiled with performance metrics from the other Disaster Assistance Response Team com ponents to help advise the Canadian government regarding mission duration. We recommended that data collection continue on all future missions and be modified to provide further information to larger disaster coordination teams, such as the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Contexte : Dans le domaine de l'intervention internationale en cas de catastrophe, il est souvent difficile de déterminer le moment approprié pour retirer les ressources déployées alors que l'on passe de la première intervention d'urgence à la période de rétablissement et de reconstruction. Nous décrirons ici notre expérience de collecte de données en temps réel durant notre intervention médicale après le typhon Haiyan, dans le but d'orienter les paramètres de mission de l'aide militaire.
Worldwide disaster medical response: An historical perspective
Critical Care Medicine, 2005
Disaster medicine and disaster medical response is a complex and evolving field that has existed for millennia. The objective of this article is to provide a brief review of significant milestones in the history of disaster medicine with emphasis on applicability to present and future structures for disaster medical response. Results: Disaster medical response is an historically necessary function in any society. These range from response to natural disasters, to the ravages of warfare, and most recently, to medical response after terrorist acts. Our current disaster response systems are largely predicated on military models derived over the last 200 yrs. Their hallmark is a structured and graded response system based on numbers of casualties. In general, all of these assume that there is an identifiable "ground zero" and then proceed with echelons of casualty retrieval and care that proceeds rearward to a hospital(s). In a civil response setting, most civilian models of disaster medical response similarly follow this military model. This historical approach may not be applicable to some threats such as bioterrorism. A "new" model of disaster medical response for this type of threat is still evolving. Using history to guide our future education and planning efforts is discussed. Conclusion: We can learn much from an historical perspective that is still applicable to many current disaster medical threats. However, a new response model may be needed to address the threats of bioterrorism. (Crit Care Med 2005; 33[Suppl.